The Supported Hero
by EmeraldGuardian7
Summary: Having mostly all earned their Provisional Hero Licences, Class 1-A is settling in for its next term at UA. Apart from the Hero Work Studies program, Midoriya thought things finally might be getting back to normal, yet this new program involving the support course students and reuniting with a certain someone from I-Island quickly throw those ideas out the window. [Post Season 3]
1. A New Partnership

**A New Partnership**

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 _ **A/N:**_ _While this can be taken on its own as a one-shot, I do think that I might post a few more chapters in the style of interconnected one-shots in the future. You may be wondering how that is any different from a regular multi-chapter story, but I think of it as having less of an overarching plot and be more slice of life snippets peeking into this My Hero Academia AU I'm creating. There will probably still be some action in the future, but at the moment I'm leaning towards slice of life/romance. We'll have to see._

 _This is actually my first post into this fandom. I only got into the show shortly before season 3 started airing. I also saw the new movie and loved it. Melissa Shield quickly became one of my favorite characters, and I couldn't help but start shipping her and Deku. I know we'll be lucky even to see her again one day, but the movie has been confirmed as canon, so I have hope._

 _This story will probably get updated infrequently, whenever I have both time and inspiration and inbetween updates on my more major stories. That being said, please enjoy and let me know what you think in the reviews. Thanks!_

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"Since we spent all of yesterday's lesson on your Hero Work Studies, I'll be brief on the topic today. While it may sometimes seem otherwise, we do actually have other things to cover in this class," their homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa, deadpanned.

He was in his usual dark clothes, with his capture gear wrapped around his neck like a loose scarf. His eyes were extremely bloodshot, and he looked even more irritable than usual. The class tittered at this, most of them thinking back to meeting UA's famous Big Three and the crazy display they'd been given by Mirio Togata the day before.

"As I'm sure you all remember, this past summer you worked on developing your ultimate moves. Many of you had to get adjustments made to your hero costume or support equipment during this time," Aizawa continued. "In order to try something new, and partially due to the fact that most of you have your Provisional Hero Licenses so early in your time here at UA, we are instigating a new program that pairs students up from the hero course with those in the support course."

Whispers broke out among his classmates. Izuku didn't know what to think about this revelation. His mind was already whirring through the different potential benefits and drawbacks this might have. It was only because everyone else was chatting with each other that no one noticed that he'd started his signature bad habit of muttering quietly under his breath.

"Enough!" The chattering ceased immediately. "As I said, we don't have time for this. You can talk it over amongst yourselves as much as you want later. After this class, you will all be heading to the auditorium where you can mingle among those from the support course to find a partner."

"No way!" Bakugo's voice called out. "I don't need some weakling who couldn't even make it into the hero course following me around. I'll do without a partner!"

"Seeing as how you don't yet have your Provisional Hero License, I would have to agree that you don't deserve to take part yet," their teacher shot back drily. "But Principal Nezu has made his wishes clear, so everyone in the hero course, from both classes 1-A and 1-B, will be taking part in this program."

Izuku could hear Bakugo's teeth grinding together from across the room, but surprisingly his childhood friend didn't say anything more in response, instead plopping back down in his seat to stew silently. He wasn't sure if the boy with the explosion quirk was actually starting to control his anger better or if their teacher's response had actually hit a sore spot.

"Now, this partnership is supposed to beneficial to all involved in it," Aizawa lectured on as if the interruption had never happened. "It will give both sides a taste of what the relationship between a Pro Hero and a support company is like in the real world. The support students are not your sidekicks nor do they work directly for you. I expect that you will treat them with respect and as equals. If I hear of anything happening otherwise, I will be the one to step in and let me tell you will not like the result. It is not unreasonable to expect that it could jeopardize your very place at this academy."

The room was absolutely silent after that declaration. Izuku was pretty sure that he and all his classmates had taken a collective gulp at the same time.

"Am I clear?"

Class 1-A begun nodding their heads frantically.

"Good," their teacher replied. "Now I can move onto today's topic…"

As the hero known as Eraser Head started his lesson, Izuku found that for once he couldn't entirely pay attention. Like many of the other aspiring heroes in his class, their minds were instead drifting towards the news they'd just received. A partnership with a member of the support class? Izuku was starting to conclude that this would be a good thing in the end. As their teacher had said, they had already gotten some support equipment done during the summer, and he knew he would have been in some trouble without it.

The main thing Izuku was wondering about was who he would partner with. Did he know any support students? Not really… well… other than Mei. Beads of perspiration broke out on the green haired boy's forehead. It wasn't that he disliked the pink haired girl per se, but she was a bit much to deal with. He would always be thankful for her help, especially seeing as how she was the one to make the support gear he'd mentioned from back in the summer. He just wasn't sure he wanted to partner up with her, especially since she seemed to have no concept of personal space whatsoever, and that always managed to send his anxiety spiking up into record high levels. He didn't really think the way she had used Iida during the sports festival had been very sportsmanlike either. No, it was decided, he would not be partnering up with her… if he could help it, that was.

Before Izuku knew it, the class was over, and everyone was gathering their things. Finally free from being scolded, his classmates were once more excitedly chattering about what they were about to do. Packing his books into his bag, he could easily overhear Kaminari and Mineta perverted giggles as they no doubt were already planning on only trying to partner up with a cute girl. He could see Bakugo out of the corner of his eye, and it was clear to him that the explosive team was just a ticking time bomb at this point. He just hoped that he didn't scare off any of the Support Students. Izuku knew the blonde wouldn't actually do anything to them, but most people were usually immediately turned off by his abrasive behaviour when first meeting him.

"So what do you think about all of this Midoriya?" Iida asked, now standing before Izuku's desk.

"Well support item maintenance and upgrades are an intrinsic part of a Pro Hero's life," he told his friend. "I guess it only makes sense that we would be partnered up. As Aizawa-sensei said, it will give us a good idea of what it will be like after we graduate."

"Hmm," Iida looked thoughtful. "That's true… I think you are right Midoriya! I'm sure it will be a good way to meet some more of our fellow students at the very least. I just wonder who we will be partnered up with."

"I was wondering about that too!" A new voice spoke up from beside them. "Do we even know anyone from the support course."

"Ah, Uraraka!" Iida greeted their other friend. "Yes, I was wondering the same thing. I don't think we do. The Hero, Support, Business, and General Studies courses don't seem to interact much here at UA on a regular basis."

"Well, we do know Mei Hatsume," Izuku offered somewhat timidly catching his two friends attention immediately.

Iida's eyes widened significantly behind his glasses and Uraraka had an uncomfortable look on her face that he couldn't quite place.

"I will not be partnering with her!" Iida stated bluntly. "I don't like to speak ill of my fellow classmates, but I still find it hard to believe that one person can be so selfish."

Despite his own thoughts on the matter earlier, Izuku couldn't help but try and come to her defense, "She's not that bad guys… she did help us all out with the equipment we needed. She's just a bit… single-minded when it comes to her inventions."

Iida scoffed, but seemed to relent, "Nevertheless, I still do not believe we would make a good match. I'm sure she will find a partner with whom she can work better. What do you think, Uraraka?"

The girl with the zero-gravity quirk shrugged. She hadn't said much on this topic, instead choosing to stand where she was, fidgeting with her hands, "I don't know. I'm sure we all find good partners."

"Yes, you're right," the class rep responded. "We just need to keep calm and have a positive attitude. We won't make a good impression on the other class if we are spending so much time stressing over what might happen. Are you all packed up Midoriya? Shall we head towards the auditorium?"

"Yeah! Sure!" He answered with a smile, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Moving along with the rest of his class, they neared the exit.

"Midoriya!" Still standing at the podium, Aizawa beckoned him over.

Sharing a quick glance with his friends, Izuku looked back at his teacher. Swallowing thickly, he approached. It wasn't that he was scared of his teacher by any means, but being pulled aside usually never meant good things.

"What can I do for you sensei?" He asked, trying to keep his voice level.

Eraser Head didn't even look up from the paperwork he had been flipping through, "We've had someone specifically request to partner up with you. Normally, we'd make them wait until the meet and greet in the auditorium, but this is a bit of a special case."

Izuku's mind was once more scrambling. A special case? Someone had requested him? Who could it be?

"If I may ask, who requested to partner up with me?"

His teacher finally stopped shuffling papers to look up at him. There was a moments pause before he answered, "They'll be here soon. Please stay put."

Then, just like that, he walked out of the room, only pausing to say something quickly to his friends who were still loitering by the door, before moving off down the hall. Izuku was too shocked to do anything for a moment.

"Are you alright Deku?" Uraraka looked concerned.

Iida chimed in as well, "I agree, you look a little out of it Midoriya."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered absently, slowly coming back to himself. "Aizawa-sensei just said someone has already specifically requested to work with me. I guess I'm supposed to wait and meet them here. Who could it be?"

Uraraka held her chin in her hand, her nose scrunching up cutely, "I don't know. This is strange… who would have thought..."

Iida coughed into his hand.

"Not that I don't think someone would want to work with you or anything like that!" Uraraka added on hurriedly, her face going red. "I'm sure lots of people would love to work with you!"

"I agree. Many people would be lucky to work with you," Iida said. "Though Uraraka was not wrong in the fact that it is unusual."

"Thanks, guys," Izuku scratched the back of his head nervously. "I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

Iida nodded, "Unfortunately, Aizawa-sensei did tell us to get going to the auditorium right away so we should probably head out. Plus, as Class Rep, it would bring shame upon our class if I arrived late!"

"Yeah! Go ahead, guys. I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me," he assured them both.

"Okay…" Uraraka said, not looking like she wanted to leave. "Let us know how it goes after, ok?"

"Will do!" He answered. "Good luck you two!"

Waving goodbye, his two friends departed, leaving Izuku alone once more with his thoughts. Despite knowing that he'd just have to wait and see, he still couldn't help but speculate on who this person might be. No matter which way he approached it though, he didn't come up with any plausible conclusions. Again, the only person he knew in the support course was Mei, but he couldn't see how her requesting him as a partner would be a 'special case.' It wasn't entirely out of the question that Mei would request him, they did know each other after all, and from what he could tell, she did seem to have strict standards about those who she would work with. It just didn't feel like that was it though. Who could it be?

"Hello Izuku," a voice said from the doorway making him jump.

What? Who was it? The only person who used his first name was his mother...

Spinning around, the green haired boy froze in shock.

"Melissa?" He asked. "I- how- what are you doing here?"

The daughter of the renowned scientist and support technician David Shield looked just the same as when he'd met her several months prior. Her blonde hair hung loosely down to her mid-back with a few strands framing either side of her face and rested on the front side of her shoulders. Her glasses weren't on currently, leaving her pretty blue eyes unobstructed from view. The different thing about her was her clothes. To his shock, she was wearing the UA High school uniform.

"I'm here to see you silly," she smiled, moving further into the room.

"ME?" He yelped in reply. Why were his palms suddenly getting so sweaty? "I don't understand."

Melissa looked confused, "I was under the impression that you had been told I requested to partner up with you?"

A light dusting of pink appeared on her cheeks as she said this, but expression didn't waver. This only confused Izuku more.

"It was you?" He said. "I was just told that someone had requested to partner up with me and that they would be meeting me here. I still don't understand though. I'm supposed to be partnering with a member of the support course in my year. You don't even go here…"

Izuku trailed off as his eyes were once again drawn to the familiar green skirt, grey jacket, and red tie she was wearing. Melissa's hand played absentmindedly with the hem of her jacket.

"I actually just transferred here to UA," she said. "It's not really a traditional situation, but the administration was willing to make it work because of who my father is."

This just opened up a whole bevy of new questions for the boy with the green hair, but the most prevalent of them was, "Why would you want to transfer here though? It's well known that UA has the best hero course in Japan, if not the world, but while it's support course is nothing to laughed at either, I don't think it could reasonably compare to the options available to you at the academy on I-Island."

"While that's mostly true, I guess you could say that there actually is something here that I couldn't get back home," she admitted.

"Oh?"

"You could say it's the opportunity to do the most good," she said as their eyes met.

"I still don't think I understand," Izuku admitted.

Melissa seemed to take a moment to gather herself.

"After everything that happened this past summer, and seeing how you handled it all… there was no doubt in my mind that you will make an amazing hero Izuku."

The boy in question felt him flushed immediately at the compliment. Just earlier this year he could barely even talk to a girl, so having an older beautiful girl complimenting him didn't bode well for his composure.

"I-"

"Please, just let me finish," she said. It was the first time he'd ever heard her cut someone off. "As I said, after everything, I just knew you would be an amazing hero one day. It was easy to tell that you are closer to Uncle Might than the rest of his students. The fact that you were invited to I-Expo with him didn't make it hard to see. It was clear that he is mentoring you, probably getting you ready to be his successor or something."

Izuku stilled. Could she know? No… All Might said he'd never told either of the Shields about One for All.

"At first I thought it might be because you're quirks seem to be somewhat similar," she continued. "And then I realized, while that was true, Uncle Might wouldn't choose someone just for that reason. It's your determination, your drive to be a hero… to protect people. That's why he would choose to train someone to take his place one day personally."

"I don't know what to say," Izuku mumbled, trying to avoid outright confirming anything she said. "That still doesn't explain why you transferred here."

"No, it doesn't… not yet," she said. "Despite what happened… what my father did… I know his proudest achievement is the years he spent working with Uncle Might in the past. Everything he did was because of that. It doesn't make it right, but it is what it is. My father inspired me to become a support engineer and to save people in my own way, by helping heroes. After meeting you this summer, I started to think that maybe one day I could do the same thing for you that my father once did for Uncle Might."

There was a moment of silence between them. Izuku couldn't quite believe the fact that this girl seemed to think so highly of him. What had he done to deserve that trust that was placed in him? He was going to work as hard as he can to be the next Number One Hero… to not let All Might down, but Melissa didn't know any of that. She didn't know that he possessed One for All inside of him. How could she put so much faith into his abilities?

"You would really do all that for me?"

"Of course," Melissa responded. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind after everything we went through during I-Expo. You're going to be a great hero Izuku."

The ninth holder of One For All did his best to hold back the tears that threatened to escape his eyes. He didn't want to break down in front of Melissa. She didn't know how much this meant to him… to the boy who'd been seeking reassurance on his dream for so many years. If anyone, she was probably one of the only ones who could understand him though… not that he could tell her that he'd once been quirkless like her.

"I have to ask though, why come now?" He said. "Your father didn't start working with All Might until he was almost done at UA when he spent that one semester on exchange in America."

"Something like that was my intention initially," Melissa answered. "I thought I'd try to graduate from the Academy on I-Island first and be able to help you out then. Seeing the news lately about Uncle Might showed me that I would be forced to speed up my timetable. Its where I realized that where I graduated from didn't matter in the end. Things are changing in the world with Uncle Might's retirement, and if I wanted to help, it would have to be now, so I started to process to get myself transferred here to UA. Since I am a bit older, I don't think they would normally have let me partner up with you, but once I showed interest in attending here, they were eager to have me. I just made our partnership the condition of my enrollment, and well, here I am."

As happy as he was about all of this, Izuku had to resist the urge to groan. If Aizawa knew any of these details, which he was sure his homeroom teacher did, he would probably see this as some form of preferential treatment. He was probably going to be unbearable for the next little while, though once partnerships were formed, he didn't think the teachers would be very involved with it unless a problem of some kind arose.

"And your father was ok with this?" Izuku asked. He knew it was as somewhat personal question and that he was probably prying a little too much, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"I don't think he liked it much at first," she admitted. "Apart from the incident this past summer, I-Island is still considered one of the most secure places in the world. Even more security procedures have been put in place since you were there. Because of this, I think he always felt that I was relatively safe there, and was a bit worried about me coming to Japan without having a quirk and all, especially with everything that's happened recently. I explained myself though. I still don't know if he likes it, but he understands. How could he not?"

"How have things been… since everything that happened?" Izuku asked carefully.

Melissa shrugged, her lips turning down ever so slightly, "Things aren't the best for him right now. The board came down hard on him for his part in everything that happened. His reputation has taken a bit hit on the island. They've mostly covered it up outside of that though. They don't want what happened to get out to the rest of the world. As far as most people know, a criminal organization tried to break in during I-Expo and were stopped by a combination of our security measures and Uncle Might's timely intervention."

"Will your dad be ok?"

"He will," she said, and her voice sounded confident in this. "Dad's strong. He'll push through. He can handle this. I'm sure he will."

"I'm glad," Izuku said, and he meant it.

He still didn't think of David Shield as a criminal. He had been a desperate man who had gone to extreme measures to help his friend… to help All Might. His actions had been wrong, but his intent had been pure. He was sure the man regretted it all, and so Izuku didn't harbor any ill will towards him. He was sure the famous Support Engineer still had a lot to offer the world.

"Thanks, Izuku," Melissa said softly before her expression turned more serious. "So, what do you say then? Will you accept my offer? Shall we be partners and save the world together?"

Melissa held out her hand.

Izuku couldn't help the smile the broke out across his face, "Yes! We shall."

He took her hand.


	2. Getting Started

**Getting Started**

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 ** _A/N:_** _Sorry for the wait on the next update of this story. I haven't had a chance to work on it for a while even though I kept meaning too. I finally got to rewatch the My Hero Movie the other day and it inspired me to come back and work on this once more. From the small upsurge in reviews I've received over the last few days, it seems like a few others got their hands on the movie as well and are searching out the Izuku/Melissa tag. For everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed or the ao3 equivalent, I thank you so much! It means a lot to me. Again, I'm not sure when I'll update this again, but at the moment, I do plan to continue it. I hope you enjoy!_

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Shaking Melissa's hand that day had all the indicators of a monumental shift in Izuku Midoriya's burgeoning career as a pro-hero. They'd both sensed it. That moment was special… just like that fateful day that All Might had offered to make Izuku his successor. This was going to change things.

Due to this, most people would probably be surprised to learn that the boy in question's mind was actually focused somewhere else completely for once then on his career. He was still completely cognizant of what exactly he was agreeing to, having given Melissa his full attention up until the end, but it was just after that, he'd found himself a bit… distracted. To be fair, he was only a socially awkward fifteen-year-old boy who had realized, albeit several seconds into the gesture, that he was holding a pretty older girl's hand.

Izuku's face flushed as bright as a traffic sign and he froze in place. What was he supposed to do? He was holding a girl's hand! This was completely new territory for him. Despite this, he couldn't help but notice how soft the blonde girl's hands were… how warm. She was a support technician, he'd have expected more calluses for someone working on support items all day. Maybe she did something to keep her skin that soft? Did girls worry about stuff like that? They did, right? Maybe he could ask Ochako? No! That would be too embarrassing as well!

A small gasp snapped him back to attention and he caught the look of shock on Melissa's face. Her grip on his hand tightened and before he could react she had taken him into her other hand as well. Looking down in confusion, Izuku quickly realized what was the matter. Holding his hand in her own, she stared down at the ugly raised scarring that ran along the back of his hand until it disappeared up his arm, hidden by the cuff of his school uniform. He knew however that the scarring continued up past his forearm, even if it got gradually less noticeable.

"Oh! I-" he stumbled over an explanation he didn't have, "It's really not as bad as it looks."

He tried to pull his hand away, but Melissa's grip tightened once again, "Not as bad as it-"

She cut herself off, giving him a look he couldn't quite describe, before looking back down at his hand sadly. She loosened her grip, running her fingers lightly now over the rough edges of his scars. Her touch tickled slightly, sending a quick shiver down his spine. He had never been more aware of her proximity as he was at that moment.

"What happened?" She finally asked. "You had some scars back in I-Island, but not this bad."

Izuku once again was brought crashing back down to Earth by her comment. Avoiding meeting her gaze, an indefinable sense of shame welling up inside his chest, "I had to fight a villain. One of the many that attacked our Summer Training Camp shortly after I got home from I-Expo. He was strong… really strong, and I couldn't beat with the amount of my quirk that I can control safely."

"And you weren't just going to run away," she said softly. He would have almost thought it was a question, but for her tone of voice that sounded more like this was a reality she had already resigned herself to.

"I couldn't leave," Izuku answered anyway, regardless of whether she had been looking for a response or not. He turned his head up to look at her, having no way of seeing the sudden confidence that had come over him as he spoke. "There was this kid, Kota, who was in danger. I didn't have the ability to carry us both out of there so I had to stand and fight. Otherwise, Kota would have died."

"I wasn't questioning your decision," she said, finally letting his hand go free. She placed one of her own on his shoulder instead. "As I said to you earlier, you have the heart of a hero. Asking you to do anything else would be cruel. I'm just upset because it means I was too late."

"Too late?" The green haired teen parotted. "What do you mean?"

"I was too late to prevent you from damaging your body even more," she said. "It's one of the reasons I'm here. I recreated the Full Gauntlet, but spent too long trying to perfect it… to customize it for your use. Maybe if I'd just sent you the original design, this wouldn't have happened to you."

Izuku's eyes widened. She'd made him another one? Even after he'd destroyed her first prototype? He didn't know what to say. Focusing back into the present moment, he observed his new partner. It didn't take a genius, or even a socially awkward teen, to pick up on how Melissa was feeling. The wetness gathering at the corner of her eyes was a good indication.

"Hey Melissa, it's not your fault. You know that, right?" Even though his nerves were already shot, and he wanted nothing more to go bury his head in a deep dark hole, Izuku reached out and gently patted her on the back. "You had no way of knowing. Plus it's my own fault, to begin with for not having my quirk under control yet. You don't owe me anything... any help you decide to give me is just a bonus in my mind."

"But-" she began, dabbing away the small amount of moisture around her eyes with her sleeve.

"No buts," Izuku cut her off in an uncharacteristic display of confidence. He didn't usually like having to be so assertive, but he wanted Melissa to know that this wasn't her fault. He didn't want her to be upset. "Why don't we just agree that the past is the past and going forward we'll both work harder… together."

Izuku prided himself on those few moments of composure, feeling that he managed to get his message across without falling back into any of his nervous habits. That was of course until Melissa decided to answer his declaration by pulling him in for a big hug. Once more standing as still as a statue, he didn't know what to do. He was suddenly much better acquainted with the pleasant curves of her body than he ever would have imagined possible. He was, in fact, so hyper-aware of his current situation that he was sure his face was giving off enough heat to give the fire half of Todoroki's quirk a run for its money.

This continued on for a moment or two until Izuku finally allowed himself to relax into the hug. It too was a new experience for him, seeing as the only one to really give him hugs before that was his mother, but he couldn't deny that it was strangely nice, once some of the anxiety started to drain away that is. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, a faint whiff of lavender tickled his nose.

"Thank you," she said quietly to him once more.

A small cough sounded from the doorway startling the two teens who sprang apart, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"All Might!"

"Uncle Might!" Melissa exclaimed, sprinting towards the former number one hero. There was one terrifying second where Izuku was sure that she was going to jump into the blonde man's arms, much like she had done when greeting him on I-Island, but it seemed she thought better of it too, slowing to a stop before him in hesitation.

"Come on! Give me a hug," he said. "I might not be strong enough to lift you anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm an invalid."

Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, Izuku watched the two embrace.

"I'd heard the news that you'd arrived and had a feeling you might already have tracked young Midoriya here down," he said.

"Is that really you Uncle Might?" She asked quietly, ignoring his last statement entirely.

He let out a tired sigh, "I know I might not look like much but I… well… I'm still me."

He heard her sniffle loudly, "I saw the broadcast on TV… of your fight. We were so worried. Dad wouldn't stop pacing all night."

"How is Dave?" The skeletal-looking man asked, his expression serious.

"As well as can be," she said, "He's still being watched closely by the council so he couldn't send you a proper message but he wanted you to know that he was concerned for you."

All Might frowned, "I appreciate it. It just seems like I'll just have to find my way to I-Island to visit more often."

"I think he'd like that," she responded with a small smile.

"Anyway," All Might announced, sounding, even for just a second, like his old self as he turned towards Izuku, "There's no more time to chit chat. I'm assuming that Melissa here explained her proposition to you Midoriya?"

Jumping slightly at being addressed, he started nodding emphatically, "Yes, and I have already agreed to partner up with her. It is a great honor. I can still hardly believe it."

"Wonderful! That must have been right when I walked in on earlier. Again my apologies," All Might said with a big grin on his face.

Izuku had to work so hard on fighting his blush down that he almost didn't even realize that All Might was teasing them. It was just a simple hug. All of them knew that. She'd been upset so he'd comforted her the best he could. All Might was just being silly. He had to admit though, he never would have thought he'd see the day where he could joke around like this with his idol.

"Now, with everything set between you two, you should head on to the auditorium," he said. "Aizawa had some more instructions he was going to give when the pairs were all firmed up."

"Right now?" Melissa asked with a small frown, "I wanted to show Izuku my new lab."

"You'll have a chance to do that later," he said with a chuckle. "For now though, it would be best not to get on Aizawa's bad side."

"It's ok Melissa," Izuku stepped in. "You can show me that tomorrow. All Might is right, we definitely don't want to get on Aizawa-sensei's bad side."

He resisted the urge to shiver as he said that.

"Alright," she agreed with a bright smile that looked much more at home on her face than the sadness from before. "Why don't you lead the way then, Deku-kun."

Izuku jumped slightly at the nickname before remembering that it was, in fact, the name he'd told her to first call him by when they'd met on I-Island. He couldn't help but smile. That had been such a great day before the events of that night had broken out.

"I will," he agreed, bending down to grab his backpack from where it had been laying on the ground. "Let's go."

"Good luck you two," All Might said. "Dave and I always made sure to watch each other's back during our time together. Now it's time for you two to do the same. These kinds of partnership mean more than you might realize."

Straightening himself out, as the weight of his mentor's words settled upon his shoulders, Izuku turned to look at Melissa. There was a determined looked on her face, and her bright blue eyes quickly fixated upon him. She gave a small nod. Something about that look was enough of a push for Izuku to stand just a little bit taller as he nodded back. No words had been exchanged at that moment, and yet they both somehow knew that they were in alignment. They both knew the other was taking this seriously.

"Good," All Might said. "That was all I wanted to say. Now you two get out of here. We'll catch up more soon Melissa."

Giving her _'Uncle Might'_ one more quick hug, the blonde girl joined Izuku as he led her across the large campus that was U.A. High so they could find the auditorium. They didn't talk about anything serious during this time. Izuku inquired about any of her new inventions and she told him a bit about a few of her smaller projects but refused to give any details on her main project, saying he had to wait until he came to see her lab.

He didn't even have a chance to get frustrated at this lack of information before they arrived at their destination. Entering the auditorium, it was clear to see many people from both hero courses 1-A and 1-B milling about amongst other people he didn't recognize as well. He figured these were the first year support students. While many were obviously still looking for a partner, it clear that others were already settled into their pairings.

"I'm assuming you accepted Miss Shield's proposal then," a voice said from behind them, making them both jump.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku explained as he met the eyes of his homeroom teacher. "I didn't hear you approach."

The dark-haired hero didn't say a word as he observed them.

"Midoriya-kun and I did come to an agreement," Melissa added after a moment realizing what the man was waiting for.

"Very well," he said, giving them both a look Izuku couldn't quite place. "You will need to speak to Power Loader about your schedule Miss Shield since you are obviously not in the first year class along with the other participants of this program."

"Of course," she said. "I'll make sure to do that right away."

Aizawa nodded, "I believe he is in WorkShop B at the moment."

"Oh. You meant right now?" The blonde said somewhat awkwardly as she looked to Izuku and back to his teacher. "I guess I'll get going then."

"Don't worry," he assured her. "We can catch up later. I'll let you know if you miss anything."

"Thanks, Izuku," she gave him another smile that made his heart flutter strangely in his chest before turning and leaving the auditorium.

"Mi...dor...iya…" a creepy and ghostly sounding voice groaned from somewhere nearby and before he knew it he found himself sandwiched between Kaminari and Mineta.

"Wasn't that the hot blonde babe we met on I-Island?" The electric hero asked.

"Why is she here with you?" Mineta wailed.

"Who? Melissa?" He asked nervously.

"Yes!" They cried in unison.

"Well she transferred here into the third year Support Course," he said. "And she wanted to partner up for this new program."

"That's not fair!" Mineta cried. "Why does an older woman want you?"

Izuku laughed nervously, scratching at his head, "I don't know… We're just friends..."

"Really?" They both seemed to lean in uncomfortably close to his face, and Izuku struggled to free himself from their grasp.

"That's enough!" A familiar voice called. "Release Midoriya at once!"

Iida brought his arms down in a chopping motion on the back of the two boys heads. Their grips slacked as they slumping down to the ground stunned. He quickly took several steps away from their downed forms.

"Iida!" Izuku exclaimed. "Thank you so much! I couldn't seem to get away from them."

"It's no big deal," he said, straightening his glasses. "Those two need to learn how to act more appropriate in public. They're going to bring shame on our class one day, I just know it."

Izuku chuckled at his friend's serious demeanor, "So, did you find a partner?"

To his surprise, Iida seemed to flinch at the question, his one hand shooting down to grab at his other wrist where he noticed a strange metal bracelet with a small flashing light on it.

"I- I did," he paused for a moment, seeming to struggle with something before finally just finishing with, "I don't want to talk about it…"

"Oh… ok," Izuku laughed nervously, unsure of what else to say.

"So, did I hear you mention Melissa Shield?" His friend asked, obviously struggling to appear normal again. "Is that why you had to wait behind?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I guess she said she's wanted to work with me ever since we met and even transferred from the Academy on I-Island to here to do it."

"I hope you realize how much that means," Iida said, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Izuku. "The Academy on I-Island is the best in the world, and making a transfer, even to U.A., is definitely a step-down. She must believe in you a lot."

His face began to flush once again, "I know."

"Did I hear you say, Melissa Shield?" Another voice asked again, making Izuku jump. "As in the daughter of famous Support Technician David Shield?"

Calming his racing heart, Izuku turned around, coming face to face with pair of shockingly yellow eyes.

"Hatsume-san!" Iida exclaimed, before quickly lowering his voice. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Her head tilted slightly to the side for a moment as if confused, she quickly pointed to that strange bracelet on his wrist, "My baby has a tracker on it. It's accurate down to a few feet."

"Wow, Hatsume!" Izuku exclaimed. "That's pretty impressive."

"I don't know why I'm surprised," Iida grumbled under his breath.

"Anyway, I was asking about Melissa Shield?" She reminded them. "Were you talking about her?"

"Yeah…" Izuku admitted reluctantly. "She just transferred here to U.A. She's my partner."

Once again the pink haired girl zoomed right up into his face, "You're partners with her? You're so lucky! I can only imagine what kinds of babies we could create together. You have to introduce me!"

"I'll see what I can do…" he replied awkwardly.

Any further conversation was cut off as Aizawa climbed onto the small raised platform at one end of the room, "Attention everyone. Attention... Good. Now, welcome to our first ever Hero / Support Course Mingle. As I instructed before, most of you should now have found a partner. If not, you can keep looking after I'm done, but pay attention for now."

The two boys from class 1-A shared a quick glance.

"Now," their homeroom teacher started. "I wanted to reiterate from earlier that the support class students are not personal assistants for those in the Hero classes. This is a joint venture that is supposed to be equally as beneficial to both courses. For those in the hero class, you get a dedicated partner that will help you with support item creation and maintenance. For those in the Support Course, you will get a taste what it's like to work with heroes from a Support Item agency or for those aiming to become heroes themselves through the use of your creations, this will give you a chance to gain experience alongside our Hero Course students. Now, any abuse of this new relationship reported to me will be dealt with… swiftly. Am I understood?"

No one said a word.

"Good. Make sure to take some time to get to know each other and bond… and all that kind of crap."

The Eraser Hero walked off stage without any further words. Some of the students seemed a bit put off by the man's attitude, but Class 1-A was used it enough by now as to not be phased whatsoever. While some might think that what they'd just been told went without saying, Izuku thought it was a good idea he had reminded them. He was sure there were more than a few Hero Class students that would need the reminder.

"Well, it appears that's it for today then," Iida said.

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, before catching sight of Mei tinkering away at something small in hands not too far away. "So, you did end teaming up with Mei after all?"

Iida's eyes widened comically behind his glasses, "It's not like that! I tried to keep away from her but she found me anyway. Said something about how I was the perfect test subject. Then, before I could do anything to object she stuck me with this weird bracelet I can't get rid of.

"I'm sure she means well enough," Izuku said carefully. "Maybe give her another chance and she'll surprise you?"

His studious friend sighed, "I know. I'll give her a chance. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Iida."

* * *

It was later that evening, as he finally settled back into his bedroom for the night, that his thoughts finally turned to the day's events. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have Melissa here to work with him. Everyone was right, she was exceptionally skilled and he no idea what he could do to repay her kindness. He would have to think of something.

On top of that, he couldn't exactly deny that he was excited to spend time with her again. He had really enjoyed their short time together on I-Island. She was smart, kind, passionate, and striving towards a goal that was very similar to his own. That wasn't even to mention that she was one of the few people in the world who could truly understand him. She was Quirkless. Just like he had spent his whole life until he'd met All Might and everything had changed. While he had grown a lot since that day, his many years without a quirk had affected him, and in the end, helped shape who he was today. None of his classmates could understand that, and with the need to keep One for All a secret, it wasn't like he could even try to start explaining it to them. That meant he couldn't explain it to Melissa either, but just knowing that she understood what it was like to be Quirkless, even if she didn't know about him, was enough of a comfort for Izuku. It was more than he'd had before.

A sharp knock at his door broke Izuku out of his self-reflection. Who could it be? He didn't think they were having a group activity down in the common room, which was something they did once in a while to promote _'team building'_ and stuff like that. Maybe someone needed help on an assignment? Though people tended to go to Yayorozu for help first.

Hand closing around the door handle, he yanked it open, surprised for the second time that day to see Melissa Shield waiting for him.

"Melissa?" He asked shocked.

"Hey Izuku," she said, her cheeks a bit flushed. She had changed out of her school uniform, and instead was wearing a pair of long thick grey sweatpants and a plain blue t-shirt that hugged her curves. "Sorry for showing up unannounced. I just really couldn't wait and wanted to show you some of the support items I'd prepared for you."

It was only then that he was able to tear his eyes away from her and notice the silver briefcase that she held at her side. She hefted it up in front of her, holding it out like an offering.

"Oh! Of course!" Izuku scrambled for a moment, "It's no trouble at all. I… uhh… come in. Come in!"

He opened the door the rest of the way and ushered her inside. Glancing around frantically, he was happy to see that it wasn't too messy. He'd never been one to just leave things lying around in the open anyway.

Hearing a muffled giggle, his gaze locked onto his new partner. She had a hand placed over her mouth, but even so, Izuku could see the mirth sparkling in her eyes from behind her glasses. What was so funny?

"You really are a big fan of Uncle Might, aren't you?" She said, unable to hide her smile anymore.

Izuku's eyes widened as he realized he'd just let her into his room to see the copious amounts of All Might memorabilia that covered every surface of the room. His face burned hot with embarrassment, as he fruitlessly sought after an excuse in his mind that would make the situation better.

"Well, he's been my idol for as long as I can remember," Izuku admitted quietly once he realized that he had no excuses. "It's what helped inspire my dream. I want to be a hero just like him one day. Someone who can smile fearlessly in the face of danger and reassure people that everything will be ok."

Melissa's eyes had softened, "I hope you didn't think I was laughing at you. Just the thought of Uncle Might seeing all this stuff was amusing to me. It's cute. But in all seriousness, I want you to remember that I believe in your dream. You will achieve it one day. I'll make sure of it!"

It was a strong declaration, but Izuku found that his mind was stuck on another part of Melissa's speech, and it took him a moment to process that _'a girl just called me cute'_ before getting serious once more.

With a small grunt of exertion, Melissa lifted the case and set it on his bed. Izuku hovered awkwardly nearby as she bent down and fiddled with the cases locking mechanism, unsure if he could help with anything. A few strands of her long blonde hair fell forward to partially obscure his face. For the first time in his life, Izuku found himself resisting the urge to reach down brush it out of the way. It was a move he'd seen in some of his mother's cheesy romance movies when he was younger, and yet he still couldn't deny his sudden urge to do it. Letting out a small huff, Melissa, blew her own hair out of the way as she finished opening the case. She combed it aside with her hand, easily breaking whatever spell had held Izuku there under its power.

"There it's ready," she said as she turned back to him.

"Oh… err… right," Izuku stumbled, trying to appear nonchalant. "That's good."

Giving him a momentarily concerned look, she continued on. Flipping the lid up, she revealed a series of different wristbands that looked just like the original Full Gauntlet in it's retracted small form. What drew his attention was how some of them were the same colour red as before, while others were a dull mixture of black and grey.

"First of all, the one here on the left," she pointed out the relevant items as she spoke. "It is just a copy of the original Full Gauntlet. The others have some modifications. The next one over is a more lightweight version, though it offers less protection, while the third in the row offers the most bracing of them all. Not only will it help protect your arm from its own strength, but it can also act defensively from exterior threats as well. It basically doubles as body armour."

"That could be really useful!" Izuku exclaimed. "I know the original Full Gauntlet saved me from that villain with the bladed arms on I-Island. I'm not sure how I would have been able to counter him if the gauntlet hadn't allowed me to parry his blades."

Melissa nodded, "I remember that. It wasn't what the Gauntlet had originally been designed for so it probably bled away some of its overall durability in the end, but luckily it had all been enough. It's actually the reason I decided to design one with that specifically in mind."

"What about this larger pair here," he asked pointing to two more that were near the bottom of the case.

"Well, I heard through the grapevine that a certain someone had developed a new style utilizing their legs a lot more too."

"You know about that?" Izuku's eyes widened. "I call it my Shoot Style."

She nodded, "It was tricky because I had to be careful not to restrict your movement too much, but I think I was able to create a brace with just the right amount of support so that you won't damage your legs if you happened to accidentally channel too much of your quirk into them."

"This is amazing Melissa! You're amazing!" He laughed. "This will help so much!"

"Enough with the praise for now," she said, though her cheeks had taken on a rosy hue. "Wait until you learn about the last part. I'm not so sure if you'll still be happy with me then. I'm actually surprised you haven't asked me about them yet."

Izuku gave her a cautious look, "So what's up with the black pieces?"

"That's going to be your training gear," she told him.

"Training gear?"

Melissa nodded, "While I think being able to use 100% of your quirk is important to have available, hence the Full Gauntlet, I think you were right in how your were going about training your body to handle it naturally. Even the greatest Support Gear can break sometimes, and if you ever stuck without it, we don't want you to be in trouble. That's why I designed this last line of gauntlets for both your arms and your legs. Its whole purpose is to help your body grow stronger at its optimal level."

"That's amazing," he exclaimed. "Why would I ever be mad at you for that?"

The blonde girl winced slightly, "While I do believe it will be effective, following through with the program designed to go along with these gauntlets will be incredibly physically demanding. You might just end up hating me for it in the end."

"I doubt I'd hate you, no matter how intense it is."

She gave him a small smile, "I guess we'll see."

They both silent for a few moments as Melissa put everything away and locked the case back up.

"Maybe we can book one of the practice rooms tomorrow," Izuku suggested. "We could try all of this out."

"Yeah," she agreed. "It will be a good chance to test them out. I can see if there any improvements I need to do right away."

"I'm looking forward to it then," he said. "It should be fun."

Melissa gave him a strange look again, "I really think you're underestimating how hard the training gauntlets will push you."

"It can't be that much worse than All Might's training, can it?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.

Her eyes lit up, "So Uncle Might did train you directly then! I knew I was right about that. It's why he chose to bring you to I-Island specifically. You didn't answer me earlier when I mentioned that."

She looked somewhat smug with her deduction and Izuku honestly had no idea what to say. He couldn't talk directly about One For All, but it probably wouldn't hurt to admit that they were close. That fact was pretty readily apparent at this point.

"He's helped me a bunch with my quirk," Izuku mumbled. "You were right about them being similar, so he's been able to help me get better control of it. I would've been a lot worse off without him."

"Mmhmm," she hummed. "And he's training you to be his successor. There is no doubt about it in my mind now. It all makes sense. He probably said you can't talk about it too and that's why you're being all weird about this."

Izuku avoided looking her in the eye.

"Oh alright, I'll stop bugging you about that," she said with a teasing smile. "Anyway, this is probably enough for tonight. You book the room for tomorrow and I'll meet you afterward, ok?"

"That sounds good," he agreed.

"I meant to ask earlier, but did I miss anything earlier today when Aizawa sent me off to talk to Power Loader?" She inquired.

Izuku shook his head, "Not much. He just went over the same speech basically warning the Hero Course students not to take advantage of their new partners and then told us all that we have to make sure to spend some time doing non-academic bonding too."

Melissa gave him a funny look, "What? Does he think us Support Techs are pushovers or something?"

"I think it was more a warning for our class than anything," he said with a shrug. "I could see a few individuals who would need to be reminded about stuff like this."

"Oh well, I'm sure it will be fine. At least I didn't miss anything important. I should probably get heading back now though," she said. "I still need to get started on cleaning up and organizing my new room."

"Do the Support Students have a dorm of their own?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, I've been placed with the other third year students since I'm technically joining their class," she explained. "Hey, before I forget, what's your cell number? That way we can coordinate our schedules better."

"Oh. Right. That's a good idea," he handed over his cellphone so that she could send a text to herself from his device. Hearing it bleep successfully, he took it back and filled in her details while she did the same on her end. "Perfect."

"Thanks," she smiled, tucking the small device away. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Izuku."

"See you later…"

And just like that, she was gone. Izuku wasn't sure how long he stood there staring at the closed door, but when he eventually snapped out of it, he simply turned walked back over to his bed and allowed himself to fall back onto it. Apart from the day they'd all moved in and had that room sharing contest, that was the first time he'd had a girl in his bedroom. It was certainly the first time he'd been alone with a girl in his bedroom.

There had been nothing strange about it, they'd both been focused on school-related matters, but that didn't stop delayed embarrassment now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure why he even let his mind wander that way. Melissa was two years older than him, she was well known because of her father, she was successful, she was intelligent, kind, beautiful, and way way way out of his league. Whether she had admiration for his dream to become a hero or not, it didn't matter. She was looking for a professional relationship, not a romantic one. There was no use of him getting all worked up because of his overactive imagination.

Pulling out of his phone, he logged onto the U.A. system and found a free practice room to book for the next afternoon. Receiving an automated email as confirmation, he sent off the details to Melissa by text before plugging his phone and shutting down for the night. It had been an interesting day, and Izuku was sure things were only going to keep getting more interesting going forward.


	3. Practice Makes Perfect

**Practice Makes Perfect**

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _I actually managed to get this chapter out faster than the last one. I started right after posting chapter 2. Chapter 4 probably won't be nearly this fast as I have some other writing projects to work on for a while. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this update. I had fun writing it. I'm always worried I'll make the characters too OOC, but I think I managed to keep them mostly true to their canon selves. Please let me know what you thought by leaving me a review/comment. I am so grateful for the all the feedback I've gotten so far as well as all the follows, favorites, kudos, etc… So, without further ado… enjoy!_

* * *

Typing the temporary code he'd been given into the keypad, the whole thing flashed green under his fingers, and the door unlocked with a loud _click_. Pushing the door open with his one free hand, he entered the training room to find it already lit. Melissa was crouched down at the far end of the hall by the silver briefcase from the night before. It looked to be already open and ready to go.

Had he kept her waiting?

"I'm sorry I'm late," he called out, picking up the pace as he crossed the floor.

"It's alright," she said. "I actually arrived a bit early. I think you're right on time."

She climbed to her feet, turning around to greet him, and Izuku nearly face-planted right then and there. He wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting, but it hadn't been for Melissa to look like she was ready for a workout as well. Her glasses were put away once again, and she had her long blonde hair pulled back into a somewhat messy ponytail, but it was neither of those things that had the green haired teen momentarily forgetting how to breathe. It was the fact that the only thing she was wearing was a matching black sports bra and short shorts that hugged her hips like a second skin. For a Support Tech, she was in really good shape… though that made sense seeing as how she had kept up with Class 1-A fairly well when climbing up the 200 stories of the tower on I-Island that past summer.

"Hey," her voice snapped him back to attention. "Are you alright?"

It was only then that he realized he must have been staring, "Oh… err… yeah. I'm all good. Just excited to try out your new equipment."

His whole body felt like it was about to spontaneously combust. He really hoped she didn't notice. He was doing his best to not let his own gaze wander over the tantalizingly exposed skin of her slim waist or allow himself to wonder if her long creamy legs really were as smooth as they looked.

"I see you brought your hero costume as well," she motioned towards a similar looking silver briefcase held in his one hand.

"Yeah," he carried it over to set near the other case. "I thought you might want to see the braces I was already using and then we could also check how your new ones fit with the costume."

"Good idea," she said with a smile. "I'll just continue getting things set up if you want to get changed."

"Sounds good," he agreed, picking his case back up again.

He'd originally planned on just getting changed in the room before Melissa arrived but that option was out now. Luckily this whole building was chock-full of practice rooms and larger gymnasiums so there was a large general purpose men's change room just down the hall. It didn't take him long to get switched over into his costume and return.

"There you are," Melissa said cheerily as he entered their training room once more, "I was actually just thinking, maybe you could show me where you're at right now with your current equipment?"

"Sure," he said. "I can do that I guess."

Sitting down on the bench, he quickly attacked the pads and other supports Mei had constructed for him, originally thinking that he wasn't going to need them. Finishing that up, he looked around the room and easily noticed the fact that Melissa had not been idle in the few minutes he'd been gone. A few of the standard obstacle had been pulled out of the closet attached to the room as well as what looked like a giant punching bag… and when Izuku said giant… he meant it. It really shouldn't have surprised him, as U.A. probably dealt with students with strength enhancement quirks all the time. They weren't uncommon by any means.

"I see you've been busy," he said as he climbed back to his feet and started doing a few stretches.

"Well, we need our test to be thorough," Melissa explained. "I want to gather as much data as I can."

She walked over towards him, making him gulp as he made sure to keep his eyes on her face, "That being said, do you mind if I attach some sensors to you? It will really help me see how you move and where we can make improvements."

"That should be fine," he responded, his voice coming out a tad higher than usual.

Internally he berated himself. He needed to get ahold of himself. He'd already made more than enough observations to prove that yes, Melissa was a very attractive girl. That's it. He needed to move on. He couldn't get all nervous like this all the time. Of course, this was hard to implement when, much like that one time with Mei, Izuku found himself being patted down by his new partner as she searched for places to place the small circular sensors she already had ready to go.

"We should be good to go," Melissa said excitedly. "Let me get everything online and then we can see how you're doing now."

Heading over to a small laptop she had set up, she slipped her glasses back on from where they had been sitting beside her computer. Spending a few moments typing something in, a small beep sounded and a single small green LED turned on in each of the sensors placed across his body one by one.

"It looks like they all connected properly, so let's get started," Melissa announced. "Can you activate your quirk for me at its lowest stable state that you use."

"Ok, here we go," Izuku announced.

Reaching deep inside to grasp that that mental switch he'd become better and better at finding lately, he flipped it on. The power of One for All burst to life within him like an inferno. Using the analogy he'd first came up with, he made sure to crank down the dial of his mental microwave, only allowing five percent of its power to wash over the egg that represented his body. As had become second nature to him the more he practiced, he made sure to heat that egg on all sides, or in the real world, he allowed his quirk to course through his whole body equally instead of focusing it into one area.

"Woah!" Melissa exclaimed from where she stood, glancing up at the green lightning arcing off the teen's body quickly before focusing back down at her screen. "This is good. We're getting nice clear readings here. Do you have any idea how much of your quirk you're holding back at the moment in this state?"

"About five percent I think," Izuku told her, as he held his power primed and ready to go.

"Ok, good. Five percent…" she muttered as she entered more information into her system before freezing mid-sentence, her head shooting up to look at him. "Wait! Five percent? That's insane! Your active quirk levels are already extremely high as they are right now! I think I see how you broke my first Full Gauntlet now."

Izuku allowed One for All to dissipate as he laughed nervously. He had a feeling their next test might be delayed by a few minutes. "To be fair, it wasn't like I was trying to break it."

"It's fine," she waved him off, "I already told you before I wasn't mad about it. I was just surprised. I had attempted to design something that could resist my dad's records of Uncle Might's strength in his prime, but I could never quite get it to last long enough. I knew you have similar quirks but if this is you at only five percent, I'm thinking you might be just as strong or maybe even stronger than Uncle Might once you make it to a stable one hundred percent."

Izuku wasn't really sure what to say to that. On one hand, he did understand that if or when he managed to actually master one hundred percent of One for All, that yes, he should be as strong as All Might, but to have it so blatantly said to his face… it was an odd experience. Now to hear that he might, in fact, grow even stronger than his idol one day… he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Some young naive fanboying part of brain wanted to yell at him for ever thinking he could stronger than All Might, but the other part just felt determined. He had a goal now. He would grow as strong as he possibly could so he could carry on his idol's dream for him. He would make a world where people were able to feel safe living their everyday lives.

"I guess I have a lot of work to do then," he said with a grin which Melissa returned only a moment later, some of her own shock abating.

"Let's see what you've got then," she challenged and he immediately powered up to his five percent Full Cowling once more.

Under Melissa's direction, he then proceeded to go through a whole series of tests. He showed her how he could dash around the room, and what speeds he could get up to within reason of a room that size. Next, wanting to check his maneuverability, she had to him get around some of the simple obstacles she'd set up earlier. His time with the punching bag wasn't too bad, but the fact that even when pushing himself to almost ten percent the bag was still in place had him convinced he was right about it being specially designed for strength enhancement quirks. In the end, it wasn't until she had him started in on the flips and crazy gymnastic exercises that he started to get an inkling for her warning the day before. It seems Melissa really was going to be quite the taskmaster.

"Good," Melissa announced, "Let's take a break for a minute."

Letting his grip on One for All go, Izuku relaxed. He was breathing a bit heavier than normal, but nothing too extreme. This was nowhere near compared to some of the worst workouts he'd done yet. Nevertheless, he grabbed the bottle of water he'd brought with him, tipping it back and taking a large swig. It was always important to stay hydrated, something All Might had drilled into him at the beginning of his _'Aim to Pass American Dream Plan.'_

"You did pretty great. Whoever made these braces for you did better than I expected," she said. "They hold up pretty decently at the power you are using now to keep your joints stable. The only problem with them is that they won't hold up as you increase your power. That's what the Full Gauntlet 2.0 should cover for you. It's more durable than the one you broke back in the summer, but will still wear down over time if you go all out repeatedly before you are ready."

"That's good to know," Izuku said. "So still need to avoid one hundred percent unless absolutely necessary, though with the gauntlet I at least won't wreck my arms again if I do."

"That about sums it up," she said. "Your legs, however, are a bit different. They are both easier and harder to work with. The good news is that your legs by their very nature are a bit more durable than your arms. On top of that, specifically for you, they are nowhere even close to as damaged as your arms. They have been broken before, but they're still in good shape. This helps us a lot going forward since we don't have to worry about them as much. What I've designed will help protect around the joints, and especially the knees which are the areas prone to some of the worst possible injuries."

"Okay…" he responded. "How much is safe to use on my legs then?"

Melissa bit her lip, "I had to make a tradeoff to give you the required maneuverability you need. It just means that you can't spam off one hundred percent from your legs and expect no kickback. You should be able to get more out of them than before, but I think it's an area we can focus on in our training."

"Sounds good to me," Izuku agreed. "So what's next?"

"Next, let's take these off," she said, "and try out the new equipment."

Moving back over to the bench, Midoriya did just that. Stripping off most of the equipment that Mei had prepared for him, he then allowed Melissa to show him where to place the new pieces. Clipping them on, they looked just like a set of red bracelets and anklets, but he knew they would soon unfold into so much more.

"If you notice this symbol here," Melissa said, pointing to a specific spot on the gauntlet on his left arm as an example. "If you press there it will transform into the Full Gauntlet mode."

Giving it a quick test, he watched the whole thing glow for a moment. Its surface was outlined with tiny hexagonal shapes that hadn't been there before, then it unfurled almost as if made of ribbon and wrapped itself back around him, this time stretching from his covered fist all the way to his elbow. It really was strange. It was hard like armour yet still bendable enough so that he could keep his full range of motion. Izuku didn't really understand how it worked, but he once again marveled at how lucky he was.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "This is just as amazing as I remember!"

"I'm glad," she said. "Now, activate the others and we'll see how well they function altogether."

Doing as she instructed, he watched as piece by piece they each flashed similarly to the first one before unfurling into their full form. The right arm was pretty much identical to the left while both legs expanded upwards to cover his whole shin and folded over just enough so that his knees were protected too. Each piece was a snug, yet comfortable fit that had barely any weight to them at all. He wasn't sure why Melissa had been so worried about his range of movement either, since it didn't feel obstructed whatsoever. As he'd noted earlier, whatever this material was, it seemed to flow with his body's movements.

"There we go," Izuku muttered as he twisted body in different directions, trying to get a good look at himself. "This actually feels pretty comfortable."

"Well give it a try then," she said, having already returned to her laptop, eyes locked onto the sensor readings on the screen.

Without another word, Izuku activated One for All once more. Repeating the tests from before, Izuku began jumping from surface to surface, traversing and twisting around some of the many obstacles that still cluttered the room. Everything felt amazing. The extra support did wonders for his joints and the brace kept the surging power contained within his limbs.

It didn't take long for Melissa to change things up, "Are you ready to turn things up Izuku?"

"Let's go for it!" He yelled back as he slowly loosened the iron grip he'd learn to always keep on the power of his acquired quirk.

Feeling the surge of One for All intensify in his body without the normal resulting debilitating pain was, for lack of a better descriptor, a huge rush. A large smile stretched itself across his face without him realizing it and he launched himself forward once more. He wasn't exactly sure how much he was currently using, but his best estimate was somewhere around twenty percent. The amount of power at his fingertips was almost intoxicating.

Flipping through several of the obstacles once again, Izuku spun himself midair so that he collided with the one wall feet first. Pushing back off of the new surface with his boosted strength, he aimed directly at the large punching bag, a loud crack sounding behind him. He raced through the air in an instant, his fist connecting solidly to his target. To his immense satisfaction, the bag definitely moved this time, going flying backwards across the room where it impacted the far wall. That hadn't even taken half of his power.

Pausing for a second, he glanced over at Melissa whose eyes were still glued to her screen. Looking up at him she gave him a big thumbs up, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Things are looking good," she called. "Well apart from the room, but the equipment is holding up great!"

Izuku blinked in confusion at that comment looking back around him until he had spotted what she was referencing. He allowed his quirk to dissipate as his mortification set in. It seemed that both places he'd launched himself from, both originally on the floor and the wall too, had small craters left behind by his feet. He'd definitely put too much power into those moves.

"Oops…" he said quietly.

"It should be fine," Melissa said. "I'm sure hero studies students wreck stuff all the time during practice… I know kids in the support course do. I'm sure they'll have someone clean it up in no time."

"I guess…" Izuku said, unable to completely allow her words to assuage his guilt.

"Anyway, we won't make it too much worse, though I do think we should kick things up to max," she said. "I wanna see how the equipment holds up under more strain."

Izuku paused, a little concerned, "Are you sure?"

Melissa nodded, "Even if the devices fail under a punch, I'll just rebuild them. It should protect you from injury no matter what. I need to see what kinds of limits the gauntlet has."

"Okay," he said. "I'll give it a try."

Flooding his body with One for All, this time he let it roar across his muscles with no restraint. His whole body sparked more brightly than ever before with emerald coloured lightning and to his dismay, the ground cracked once more under his feet. It was as if the power had a thick tangible weight to it. The very air seemed to swirl around him and it blew outward in a small wave at the same moment as the ground had cracked.

Small objects were knocked aside with the wave, and Izuku saw how even Melissa, who had tried to brace herself on her table, was knocked back. Time froze for Izuku when his partner disappeared from his sight behind her table. She could be hurt for all he knew and it would be at his hand. With remarkable swiftness, he yanked his quirk back under the control of his suddenly iron will. His body was still augmented, but to an extent he was more comfortable with.

"Melissa!" He cried, crossing the room in the blink of an eye. Vaulting over the desk, he finally caught sight of her as she was in the middle of pushing herself up off the floor. He slid to stop, crouching down beside her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "However, I definitely keep underestimating your quirk."

He took her hand, helping to pull her back up to her feet where she wobbled for a moment, reigniting his concerns.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He fussed over her. "You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"Izuku, I told you I'm good," she said, sounding a bit exasperated. "Thank you for your concern though. I guess we got a bit carried away."

"It's my fault," he said looking down. He shouldn't have gone all out like that. He knew how dangerous it could be.

"Hey," she admonished. "None of that. I was the one who was telling you what to do. Just like heroes, all Support Techs know the risks of their job. Plus, we're in this together, remember? No more attempts at taking the blame for stuff, ok?"

Izuku was tempted to argue, still feeling like he should have known better, but seeing the determined look on Melissa's face, he decided to let it go, "Ok… what's next then?"

"I think we should probably finish up soon for the day, but I do want to give you a quick overview of the training gear, so switch into that if you can."

"Ok, sounds good," he said, retracting all the pieces he was currently wearing into their compact forms, all the while watching her out of the corner of his eye to make sure she didn't have anymore stumbles. He was relieved to see how even when checking his limbs over more thoroughly there was no indicators strain. It was only a moment later that he did finally notice a problem, "Uh Melissa… how do I get these off after retracting them?"

The blonde blinked at him in confusion for a moment before breaking out into a fit of giggles, "Sorry Izuku. I forgot that you told me the same thing last time. It's the same button that switches it between the different modes. Just hold it down for five seconds."

"Oh…" Izuku said dumbly, doing just that on one of his gauntlets and watching how it fell open with a click. "That was pretty easy. Do you think I should be worried about those buttons being hit accidentally during a fight? Or if somehow a villain figured out how they work, maybe they could aim for it to throw me off."

Melissa took her chin into one of her hands as Izuku worked to get the rest of the gear off his body, "Hmm, that's a good point. I had been considering putting a biometric lock on it so that it only responded to you, but that was more out of fear that your tech ever got stolen. That kind of thing could serve the same purpose though. No villain would be able to activate the shift mid-fight since it wouldn't respond to them anyway."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, grabbing the black and grey pieces from the case now that the others had been returned. "That could probably work."

"I'll give it some more thought," she said. "See if I can come with anything better. Otherwise, I'll look into incorporating it into the next version of the Full Gauntlet."

"So what exactly is so special about these training pieces?" He finally asked a few moments later when they had all been affixed into place and expanded into their full form. "So far they don't feel any different than the ones I was just using."

"Here's the part where you might start to hate me," she said, giving him a nervous look. Tapping away a bit more at her computer, small indicator lights turned on the sides of his new training equipment. "Ok, whatever you did, it still doesn't feel any different."

"Trying walking around," she suggested.

Frowning, Izuku went to go take a step... only to find the equipment resisting his every attempt at movement. What the hell? Flailing his arms, he tried to keep himself steady.

"What's going on?" He demanded. "I can barely move!"

"Your quirk," Melissa urged him. "Use your quirk!"

Charging his body with One for All once more, he decided to keep it to a reasonably low level. Then using that strength and power, he tried to move once more. It worked to an extent... though he still felt a bit jerky in his overall movements and he had to keep up a constant stream of his power to make it work.

"What is this?" He said, already trying to move again.

"Like I said before it's your training gear," Melissa said walking around the table. "It protects your body from its backlash like the others, but it also has adjustable strength settings. As you can see in the current setting it takes a certain percentage of your quirk to even let you move. That can be adjusted so that your muscles and ligaments get ready for the strain of different intensities of your quirk unassisted. It should also help you practice your control even more, as well as protect from any accidents."

He took a few more wobbly steps, "Ok, you were right about this being difficult."

"I did tell you," she said with only the barest hint of smugness. "Now, see if you can get through a few of the easier obstacles from earlier, but also try and regulate your quirk just enough so that you are able to move your body as if it weren't being enhanced by your quirk at all."

Izuku had gone through several difficult challenges from his many teachers since truly starting down his path to become a hero, but he could admit this was one of the most physically taxing, and that was saying something. He did manage to complete Melissa's request though he was sure he had looked a hundred times less graceful than usual. Coming back to a stop before her table afterwards, he was actually out of breath for the first time.

"Ok, that's definitely enough for today," Melissa said, tapping something on her keyboard that had his equipment shutting down and immediately relieving the pressure on his limbs.

Izuku let out a big sigh of relief, "That feels better."

He made quick work of shrinking all of these pieces down and removing them one by one before returning them to Melissa's case.

"I'm actually feeling a bit sore from that," Izuku looked down at his arms. "Maybe I overdid it a bit after all."

Having locked the silver case back up, Melissa approached him, gently taking his arm into her hands again without asking. He did his best to keep his cool.

"It's probably from the training gear," she said, looking him closely and even prodding him in a few specific spots. "Yeah, as you can see there are no breaks or even any real bruising. The soreness isn't from the backlash of your quirk. It's just the normal muscle strain after a good work out. As I was saying before, it's probably going to be a bit more intense than what you're used to from normal workouts. This really is the fastest way I can think of to build up your tolerance to your quirk though."

"That's ok," he said. "I've always known that I'd have to work harder than anyone else to succeed in my dream of being a hero. A little bit of soreness isn't going to dissuade me!"

Melissa smiled softly at his declaration, though her head did tilt slightly to the side as if in confusion, "What do you mean by that? Why would you have to work harder than anyone else?"

Izuku felt his eyes go wide. He hadn't meant to let that part slip. It was already bad enough that he'd given away the secret to Ka-chan. It wasn't that he didn't trust Melissa, because he most definitely did, but he was being so careless. He'd have to stick to the story he and All Might had come up with.

"Oh," he stuttered nervously. "I- I was a really late bloomer in my quirk. Even my doctor messed up during my assessment, and I spent most of my childhood thinking I was quirkless. Even so, I still had my dream of being a hero. I was planning on applying to U.A. anyways, even with no powers, but then they finally did appear just in time. As you know, the only problem with them was that I couldn't control my quirk at all. So as I was saying before, I've always known I would have to work harder than anyone else to achieve my dream, whether it was at first without a quirk at all or now trying to catch up to my classmates who have been using their quirks naturally for the past ten years."

"I never knew all that," Melissa said quietly.

Izuku gave her an understanding look, "It's why I was so surprised to find out in the summer that you were quirkless as well. Despite my plans, I don't think I would have succeeded at getting into U.A. if my quirk has not appeared but look at you. I was so amazed. Even if you initially wanted to be a hero, you found another way of accomplishing that dream and you've followed it with everything you have. It's inspiring really."

Melissa's face gained a slight flush at Izuku's words though she didn't break eye contact, "Thank you for the compliment, but I think you are underestimating yourself."

"Maybe," he shrugged, "But it is still inspiring… at least for me."

Melissa didn't say anything to that and having moved behind him to pick the sensors off of his body, he couldn't get a read on her expression. He stood still, allowing her to go about her task. She was the first to break the silence, having finished fairly quickly before heading back to her work station.

"What else are you up to today?" She asked. "I'm assuming no classes seeing as how it's the weekend and all."

"No classes," he confirmed. "Probably going to work on my assignments due next week then I'm not sure. Maybe just relax tonight."

"Well…" Melissa said, playing with something small he couldn't see in her hands, "You mentioned last night that Aizawa had also said that personal bonding time is an important part of the partnership. I was wondering if you wanted to meet tonight after dinner. We could just hang out… maybe watch a movie or something?"

Y-y-yeah," Izuku stuttered out an affirmative, caught completely off guard. "That sounds like fun."

"Good," she said as she moved off to clean up the room. "I thought so too. I'll text you later and we can figure out the details."

He hurried to follow and help.

"So what about you?" Izuku finally asked as they finished up. "What are you up to this afternoon? Do you have any projects yet to do?"

"I don't know exactly," she answered, "I'll probably go get changed and then settle into work on something. I don't have any official projects yet, but I am set to show Power Loader some of my older designs next week."

"That sounds good. And I was wondering about that too," he said, indicating towards her outfit. "I wasn't sure if you were going to do a workout too."

Izuku wanted to smack himself. Why had he drawn attention to her attire? He could have coasted out their session safely without saying anything at all, but of course, he wouldn't do that.

"Oh, these? Yeah, they're my workout clothes," She said matter of factly. "I'd thought we could spar a bit, but it will have to wait till next time."

"Spar? You know how to fight?" He asked, surprised.

"Just a bit. I've done some kickboxing classes before. Nothing really out there," she explained. "I-Island has as a state of the art gym, and I've always subscribed to the whole _'healthy body, healthy mind'_ thing. I've never trained nearly as hard as you guys though."

"Staying in shape is good," Izuku commended though his mind was more focused on the idea she'd brought forward. It was a possibility. He'd have to be careful though. It wasn't that he underestimated Melissa, but he wasn't going to use One for All in that kind of spar. It would be too dangerous. "Having a sparring partner is always better. I guess we could give that a try."

"Awesome," she gave him another wide smile. She really was a cheerful person. There was something about that trait that warmed him up inside. "Anyway, I better get going. I'll see you tonight Izuku."

"Right," he said. "Just send me a text and we can… uh… figure it all out. Thanks for your help today!"

Melissa gave a lighthearted laugh, "It was no problem. Good luck studying!"

The door clicked shut behind her, and Izuku let out a small sigh. He was sad to see her go already, and that was surprising to him. He'd never been one who minded being alone in his childhood. He was somewhat used to it after his Quirkless nature had become known, yet in this case, she'd just left and he already felt a bit lonely.

Shaking those feelings away, Izuku quickly stripped out of his hero costume and packed it back away in his case. Looking everything over one last time, he logged back into the U.A. site on his phone. Navigating to reservations, he found the one he'd made for this room. He'd filled out the section about the damage that had been done in detail and submitted the report. He indicated that he was checking out, then left to go about his day.

* * *

Izuku Midoriya couldn't stop pacing. It wouldn't exactly be fair to say that this was the most nervous he'd ever been in his life, seeing as how he'd been nearly catatonic with anxiety for the whole week after the practical exam to get into U.A. High, but this was close. The fact that he kept telling himself that there was nothing to worry about seemed to, unfortunately, have no effect on his racing heart. So instead he paced, the simple repetitive action giving a miniscule distraction that he could try and focus on.

Melissa hadn't even texted him till about an hour earlier to confirm the details for their… hang out? What exactly should he call it? A date? No! It wasn't a date. Why would she want to go on a date with him? It couldn't be a date… could it?

Izuku felt himself break out into a cold sweat. He needed to get a grip of himself. He was just watching a movie with a friend! Did it really have to be in his room… alone… again? He'd already gone to check the TV in the communal area of their dorm, but Kaminari and Mineta had already taken over the room to no doubt watch some kind of pervy show of theirs. It wasn't like he had prepared anything to watch yet himself, but he wasn't going to subject Melissa to sitting with them. He'd texted her back to let her know, but she'd assured him it was fine and that she'd bring her laptop along with him.

A familiar knock sounded at his door. Izuku froze. She was here already and he hadn't got any drinks or snacks ready. Why did he have to waste so much time doing nothing but worrying?

It only took him a moment to realize that he was keeping her waiting as he panicked. Scurrying to the door, he ripped it open, feeling slightly out of breath and just generally disheveled. Melissa was standing there as expected, wearing casual clothes like the night before and still looking amazing nonetheless. If possible, Izuku was feeling even more self-conscious than before.

"Hey," Melissa greeted him happily.

"Hi," Izuku answered. He was already starting to calm down. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

"Can I come in?" She asked tentatively, and Izuku quickly realized that he was blocking the doorway as he stared.

"Oh… right… of course," he hurried back, letting her in. "Sorry about that."

Sweeping by him, she set the black bag she was carrying on the bed.

"Do you want a drink or something?" Izuku asked uncertainly. "I can go to the kitchen and see what we have in the fridge… there might not be much. I don't think anyone's run out for groceries this week yet."

Turning around, she was already holding two sodas, and what looked to be a bag of pre-popped popcorn was poking out of her bag, "I've got us covered."

Izuku's face grew warm, "You didn't have to do that."

"I don't mind," she said. "Plus, what's a movie night without popcorn and drinks?"

"I guess," he moved deeper into the room, the door closing again without him there to hold it open. "Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to watch? We could always see what's available to stream on Netflix?"

Pulling her laptop out of her bag, she looked back over at him, "Actually, I had an idea about that. It's a bit of a surprise."

Izuku gave a curious glance, "What do you mean?"

Taking a seat on the edge of his bead, she placed the laptop on her knees as she looked back up at him, "Well, I managed to get a hold of an old American superhero film that was made before the emergence of quirks. It's about a man who doesn't have any powers, but was a genius inventor and ended being able to design a suit of armour support items in order to be a hero."

Izuku couldn't believe his ears. He knew exactly what she was talking about, "Are you talking about Iron Man?"

Melissa looked almost taken aback, "You know it already?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed. "It's a classic! It's really hard to find nowadays though. I've never been able to find a copy of it though to watch. Those old pre-quirk era comic books are huge collector's items now. They can go for thousands, if not millions, of dollars."

Melissa blinked a few times before out into a big smile and starting to laugh.

Izuku tried very hard not to pout, "What's so funny?"

"Oh it's nothing," she wiped her eyes. "It's just that I guess Uncle Might was right when he said you were a huge fanboy."

"He said that?" The green haired teen's face flushed red. "Wait, he was talking to you about me?"

This time it was Melissa who blushed, avoiding his gaze, "Just a little bit. When I called to tell him that I was coming here to U.A."

"Oh…" Izuku wasn't really what to sure what to say, but inside his head, he was basically squealing in delight at the fact that his idol spoke about him to others.

"I'm glad it's something you'll enjoy," she said. "I had a feeling you'd like it."

The young hero in training nodded his head vigorously, "It is. I just can't believe you were able to get a copy."

"I-Island has a large collection of films from all over the world, both new and old," she explained, "And while it is pretty rare, it's sort of fitting don't you think? For Support Tech Scientists I mean."

Izuku couldn't help but agree.

"Do you mind if I make things nice and comfy for the movie?" Melissa asked, having moved to grab the pillows from his bed.

"Uh… I guess not…" he stuttered out. It hadn't even occurred to him that they might sit on his bed. Now that he thought about it, there really wasn't anyplace else to sit apart from at his desk, but that wouldn't have been really been the epitome of relaxation either.

"Great!" She gave him another one of those bright smiles that always served to give him butterflies. Wedging the pillows she'd absconded against the wall, she created a makeshift backrest for them. "There we go. It's perfect."

"Yeah…" he agreed, scratching at the back of his head nervously.

Plopping down on the bed with a small bounce, Melissa scooted herself back into position, "That's not too bad. Come on Izuku!"

She patted a spot on the mattress right beside her. He was sure, were it possible or if he had the quirk to do so, steam would have been coming out of his ears. Nevertheless, the green haired teen slowly and jerkily moved himself over the bed, sat down, and managed to slide himself over so that he was beside his friend. The whole way through all he kept thinking over and over again was, _'I'm getting into bed with a girl for the first time in my life.'_

Now, Izuku knew logically that it was completely platonic, and in no way even close to as lewd as it sounded, but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous. A million thoughts were passing through his head, one of the most prominent being what his mother would think if she could hear his thoughts. Little did he know that Inko Midoriya was constantly worried about the exact opposite thing. She always worried that her son's social anxiety, especially around girls, would lead to her never getting grandkids one day. She'd probably be more than thrilled to see the position he was currently in.

Placing the laptop down on the bed in between their legs, she got everything prepared. Handing him one of the generic cola brand sodas she had brought, and opening the bag of popcorn so it also rested between them, she moved onto her last step without comment. Whipping his All Might throw blanket off the bottom of his bed, in one smooth motion she easily swung it around their shoulders and pulled it so it was snug. Blinking in surprise, as the opening credits started to roll, it took a few moments for it to sink in that he and Melissa were cuddled up together under a blanket.

Izuku tried to pay attention to the movie, both because it was something he'd wanted to see for years and as a way to forcibly distract himself from his current situation. He watched as the future Iron Man, Tony Stark, who was currently a defense contractor, showed off some new missile he had designed. He saw how Stark's convoy was attacked and he was critically injured in the process. Izuku was just starting to really get into it when he noticed Melissa shift.

She did it a few times again after that, subtle enough that he could tell she was trying not to make a big deal about it, but he could tell she was uncomfortable in her current position. Shifting himself as well, he tried to give her room to move, his arm slipping around her back accidentally without him thinking it through. With a small sigh, she was suddenly snuggled up even closer, her head near his chest as his arm rested around her.

Once again, Izuku found himself at a loss for what to do. He fought against every instinct that told him to pull away and put some distance between them. That wasn't because he didn't like this, in fact, he probably enjoyed it much more than he should, but some unshakable fear that Melissa would get upset and it would ruin their friendship. It was only the fact that she had obviously instigated this that allowed him even try and relax. What did this all mean? This was too intimate for just too friends, right? Well… he was pretty sure Americans were known for being more opening affectionate…

All Izuku knew at that moment was that Melissa was soft... incredibly so. From where she leaned against his chest, her golden coloured hair giving off the soft scent of lavender that he'd smelled before, to where his hand rested, arm wrapped around her slim waist. It took everything he had to keep his mind out of the gutter. All that said, Izuku could admit that once he relaxed a bit, being cuddled together with Melissa was strangely comforting. He could probably get used to this.

Settling back into the movie, they remained like that for the whole thing. The movie was just as good as he had always expected it to be, but he hadn't paid nearly as close attention to it as he normally would have. He was much too distracted by the girl he was spending his time with… and for once, Izuku found that he didn't mind.


	4. Advice From A Friend

**Advice From A Friend**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Sorry for the long wait everyone. I'd originally assumed this chapter would have been out months ago but alas, my last semester of University proved to be quite busy, but now I've finally graduated and am on the hunt for a job. Just did an interview the other day actually so keeping my fingers crossed on that front. On top of that, any time I did have time to write over the past few months was dedicated to other projects, some of which were probably just a waste of time that will never see the light of day, but sometimes you can't help where the inspiration strikes._

 _I finally came back to finish up this chapter after receiving a few kind messages inquiring about its status and after rewatching part of the Two Heroes movie again to get inspired. I hope it meets all of your expectations. This was my first time ever trying to write Todoroki so I feel like I might have messed him up a bit, but whatever. We'll see how it goes._

 _Please let me know what you think in the comments and I'll see you next time!_

* * *

Izuku let out a small yawn. Overall, he was feeling a bit dragged out, even for a Monday afternoon. He'd spent the whole day and part of the night before getting his assignments done for the coming week. The fact that he hadn't managed to do any of it on Saturday due to his nerves while waiting for Melissa to arrive for their movie night hadn't helped. For once, he wished he could be like their homeroom teacher and just bundle up in a sleeping bag like some giant freakish caterpillar in the middle of class to get some rest.

Despite that, Izuku had really enjoyed his time with his new friend, though they'd have to be more careful in the future. The movie had finished just before the start of curfew and Melissa had been forced to nearly sprint out of there so she could avoid being caught out by the sentry drones after hours. She'd sent him a text just as the allotted time had hit, letting him know she had made it. They hadn't really chatted since then, other than setting up another work out for later that afternoon.

All of that said, he was a bit confused about things. Melissa's very casual touchy-feely attitude had caught him off guard. He wasn't really sure what that meant. Were the stereotypes true and it was just an American thing, or was it something more? He wasn't even sure what ' _more'_ it could be? Someone like her would never even consider any kind of romantic aspirations with someone like him. She was too good… too out of reach. Even after everything that had happened to him in the last year, it was sometimes hard to feel like more than just that quirkless nobody that Ka-chan had spent years telling him that he was. Surprisingly, being near Melissa seemed to help suppress those doubts though.

"Quiet," the voice called, not even speaking that loudly himself. The room fell silent nevertheless. "Let's not waste anymore of our time."

The students of class 1-A shared some quick glances, but most were focused on Aizawa.

"As you all know, apart from two of you, you all managed to acquire your provisional hero licences and that is something you should feel proud of," he started causing many of the students around the class to perk up with smiles growing on their faces. Alas, it was not to last. "But that was just the base expectation I held for you. As students of UA High, I expected you to go Plus Ultra! Unfortunately, that was not the case. Apart from a few standouts, most of you barely passed at all and that is simply not acceptable."

A hush had fallen over the class and even Izuku could feel his spirits plummeting. He had scored a 71. It was not horrible but it was not exemplary either. All Might had chosen him as his successor… his dream was to be the new number one hero… he couldn't keep settling for mediocrity like this.

"And you know the part that irritates me the most?" Aizawa continued. "It's that the majority of the points that you all lost… they weren't on your technique or really any of the challenging bits of this test… no… you lost the majority of your marks because of simple failures of communication between you and your peers or with the faux-victims themselves."

The room was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop at this point.

"Midoriya!" Izuku jumped in fright as his teacher called upon him. "You lost nearly thirty points because you couldn't get your bad habit under control and your muttering sent your rescue victim into a panic that made him harder to rescue. How stupid would you have felt if that had been enough to make you fail?"

Izuku's face was so red from the embarrassment that he was sure that he was about to spontaneously combust.

"Todoroki!" He called on next, "You didn't pass at all despite being the first in the class to finish phase one. You let personal issues affect your work in the field instead of being a professional about it. Not only could you not work with one of your peers, you both actively sought to sabotage each other's efforts when peoples lives were on the line."

He saw the red and white haired boy look down towards the floor.

"And last but not least, Bakugo," their homeroom teacher stated.

"Huh?" The spikey haired blonde grunted as he looked up to meet the heroes gaze.

"You too failed to obtain your provisional license," he stated.

"Shut up!" Bakugo shouted. "I know that!"

Aizawa continued on as if he hadn't even heard the outburst, "Like Midoriya, your lost points stem from your interactions with the person you were to save. However, unlike your classmate who only made a few simple mistakes, you were actively belligerent towards your person in need. You told them, and I quote, 'go save yourself.' While I admire your personality normally and the drive it gives you, in this case, it led you to act in a manner that directly contradicts your purpose in that situation as a hero."

"Whatever…" Bakugo muttered, but Izuku had known the boy long enough to tell that he had taken their teacher's words to heart.

"Can anyone see what these three had in common in how they lost points?" Aizawa asked them. For several silent moments, no one moved to answer. "Come on! No one?"

Then finally Momo tentatively raised her own, "Well, they all had to do with how they related with others during the test, be it their peers or with those they were rescuing."

"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "It's the most simple part of the whole task and yet it cost them the most… and they weren't the only ones. You all know who you are, but there are others among us today who almost lost for similar reasons. That's why I've put aside some time today to try a little exercise."

As if on cue, everyone seemed to perk up at that, "Now, all of you, split yourselves into pairs. I don't care who you're with, just do it quickly."

Eyes scanning the class, it didn't take him long to spot Uraraka in the back corner and he worked to try and catch her eye. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to succeed in that endeavour. In fact, it almost seemed like she was purposely avoiding looking at him, but he couldn't figure out why. Tapping Ilda's shoulder who sat in the desk before her, it was obvious that they were forming a pair on their own. With a small frown on his face, he continued looking and noticed right behind him that Mineta was giving him a weird look. He and Kaminari were still trying and failing to question him about his partnership with Melissa and Izuku had no plans to change that anytime soon. Mina was grinning at him oddly as well, and if that wasn't unnerving than he doesn't know what was. She was a notorious gossip and that meant something about him had gained her interest. He really didn't want to know what it was.

What had he done to gather all this attention? It had to have been something… That was when he saw Todoroki sitting quietly on his own. This was actually perfect. He'd been wanting to talk to the stoic boy for a few days. Now Izuku might be a bit naive, but he'd always had above average observation skills and he'd heard the way some of the girls talked about the son of Endeavor. He had to have some experience with girls and could give him some advice… that was if he could get up the courage to even ask.

"Hey Todoroki," he greeted the other boy, having walked over to his desk. "Do you want to partner up?"

The fire and ice user blinked up at Izuku for a moment with a blank expression before giving a small shrug, "Sure."

Feeling relieved, he circled around to sit at the abandoned desk on the other side of his temporary partner. Neither of them noticed the momentarily sad expression on Momo's face as she left her regular desk beside Todoroki and went off in search of a partner. It only took a few more moments before everyone was settled and ready to go.

"Good," Aizawa said, simultaneously calling the attention back to himself. "I will pass out a set of flashcards to each pair. Take turns picking one at random and reading it out loud to your partner. Figure out what the appropriate response or action is to each scenario and tell it to your partner. If you are stuck on one, you may work together to come up with a good solution. You may begin once you receive your cards."

"This should be a good activity," Izuku said optimistically in an attempt to break the silence between him and his partner as he waited for their cards. Todoroki had never been the easiest to talk to, even if he did consider the quiet boy to be a friend. "I have a lot to practice and get better at for my screw up during the exam. Aizawa-sensei was smart to come up with this."

"You're not the only one that has making up to do, Midoriya," Todoroki said quietly, looking down.

"What do you mea-" Izuku started to say, startled by his classmate's words.

"Aizawa-sensei was right in what he said about me earlier. What I did was much worse than where you lost points," he continued, a hint of self-loathing in his tone. "You made a simple mistake. That can be rectified easily. I actively sabotaged my own chances by fighting with another contestant and it was all because he compared me to my father. I keep telling myself that I'm over it, but keep proving time and time again that he still has a hold on me."

"I-" Izuku wasn't even sure what he could say to comfort his friend in this situation.

"Here are your cards," Aizawa interrupted him, smacking a small stack onto their shared desk before moving away. "Get started."

Biting his lip, he looked back down at his hands as he still tried to think of what he could say after Todoroki's admittance.

"You've arrived on the scene of a recent explosion," his classmate's monotone voice was enough to snap him out of his thoughts. Glancing back upwards he saw how Todoroki had already grabbed one the cards before he'd even realized it and started reading, "There are several people in need of medical attention lying amongst the rubble. You are also concerned about the stability of the building around you as the explosion may have compromised the structural integrity of the building. What do you do?"

"Well," Izuku said, his mind already running through a variety of different scenarios in his head, "If any other heroes or first responders are on the scene, it's important to find out if anyone has already gone in there and if not, to inform them that you are. Once you do that, you have to be very careful as you don't want to disturb anything that might cause more damage. The priority should be to find and evacuate any victims as quickly as possible."

"How will you find them all?" Todoroki asked, his brow furrowed as he read more details off the back of the card. "Depending on the conditions, it might be hard to simply find everyone by sight alone."

"It's probably a good idea to call out to them as you make your way through the building," Izuku posited. "As I learned from the provisional licensing exam, I can't let my own insecurities or fears be broadcasted in my voice though. Part of our job as heroes is to stop those we are saving from panicking… to make them feel safe."

His friend nodded, "Your turn to read one."

Izuku picked up a card, "You are working with a team of other pro heroes during a hostage situation. Your job was to slip in while the villains were distracted and then slip back out with the hostages. The problem is that once getting inside, you original escape route is no longer a viable option. There is a back up exit but you will have to sneak through the building to reach it and one of the hostages is injured. What do you do?"

Todoroki seemed to think it over carefully for a moment before answering his plan in detail. While his friend did seem to rely on the brute strength of his quirk more often than Izuku thought was best, it was clear to him that he was getting better at being more strategic in his thinking. It probably helped that he wasn't holding himself back with his fire anymore, even if his father was still a bit of a sore topic for him. They continued on, alternating back and forth on the assigned situations for a while until they had finally finished all the cards they had been given. It left them with nothing to do for a moment, many groups in the clas still working, but Izuku found that he didn't mind. Now was finally his chance.

"Hey, Todoroki?" Izuku called.

"Hmm?" The boy looked up to meet his gaze.

"I wanted to get your advice on something," he said, feeling the butterflies already starting to stir in his stomach.

Quirking a single eyebrow upwards he said, "About what?"

"I… well… I wanted… I wanted to get your advice on…. well on girls…" he finally managed to stutter out.

His classmate blanched, haphazardly dropping the cards that he'd been absentmindedly stacking neatly before. Suddenly coughing as if he were choking on the air, for the first time ever, Izuku saw the son of Endeavor blush. It was so unlike the calm and collected persona he was used to seeing from his friend, that he didn't quite know what to think about it.

"Why are you asking me about g-" he started, looking almost panicked. "Well, about that?"

This time it was Izuku who frowned, "I may not be good at all this stuff, but I'm not completely oblivious. I overhear the girls talk and know many of our classmates… uh.. well… like you. That means you've gotta have some experience with all this, right? At least more than me!"

Todoroki shook his head rapidly, "I don't… I've never… you know… I don't really have any experience with what your asking. In all honesty, our classmates are the first real friends I've had…"

And if Izuku didn't feel awkward before, he definitely did now. This had been a stupid decision. What had he been thinking? This was so embarrassing.

"Oh right," he said after a few moments of silence. "That's fine… just forget I asked, ok?"

"I can try to help though," The fire and ice user offered tentatively after another pause in their conversation.

"Really, it's fine, Todoroki," Izuku said hastily. "You don't need to worry about it."

The other boy frowned, looking deep into consideration before he spoke again, "You really helped me in the past. When I was completely lost in my hatred, you helped me see the way out even though you had no obligation to get involved whatsoever. I know I have said before that getting involved in the delicate situations of others is not always the best idea, but I owe you. I will do my best to give you sound council if you'll let me."

Izuku took all of this in stride, weighing his options on how to proceed. It was still embarrassing and he didn't really want to talk about it with anyone, but he really did need advice. At least Todoroki seemed level headed enough that he wouldn't go spreading what he learned from him around to the rest of the class.

"Do you remember Melissa Shield?" He finally asked. "We met her on I-Island in the summer."

Todoroki nodded, "Of course. She's your support partner, correct?"

"Yeah," Izuku said, a bit taken aback that he already knew that.

As if being able to read the confusion on his face, the other boy explained further, "A lot of people are talking about it. It's a pretty big deal that she transferred from the I-Island Academy in order to work with you, especially since she'a in a higher year."

He grimaced, "Yes, well I know why she did."

Izuku went on to explain what Melissa had told him. He told the other boy about how he'd apparently inspired her, how she'd told him that she believed him, and wanted to be here to help him on his rise to becoming a Pro Hero. Then, with his face flushing red once again, he spoke about their recent interactions. He told his friend about their movie night, about how much more openly affectionate she seemed to be than anyone else he'd ever known. He expressed his confusion what it all meant and the stress that was causing him.

Todoroki didn't say anything for several long moments and when he finally did speak, he seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "First of all, I think you should feel very lucky that you have someone who believes in you so wholeheartedly and is willing to go to such lengths to support you. As-"

"I do know that!" Izuku couldn't help himself from interrupting. "I realize how much she's given up for me and I am eternally grateful for it. I… I just can't stop thinking about the other bit."

"Well before I give you my opinion, what do you think she means by acting the way you described?" He asked.

If possible, Izuku's face seemed to grow even more hot, "I don't know. It almost feels like she… you know… likes me… r-r-romantically. Why else would she be like that? I've heard that Americans can be openly affectionate though..."

Todoroki opened his mouth as if to speak, but Izuku barreled onward with his rambling.

"But she couldn't like me like that. She's way too good for me. I'm just deluding myself."

"You shouldn't think about yourself like that," the white and red haired boy said with surprising seriousness. "You look down on yourself way too much. You're a good person, Midoriya. I don't believe anything like the idea she is too good for you. That is not how things work. You can't help who you love."

Izuku couldn't help the small smile that broke out on his face. He didn't expect that from Todoroki of all people, "You sound pretty wise for someone with no experience with romance."

He couldn't quite read the expression that flitted across the other boy's face at that moment, but whatever it was he responded nonetheless, "I think the most important thing here is to forget about wondering what your partner may or may not feel. Forget about what you think she may or may not be trying to tell you with how she is acting. The question is do you know how you feel?"

"What?" Izuku said, suddenly feeling like he was the one under the microscope. "What do you mean?"

"I mean do you know how you feel about Melissa?" He asked in his signature calm tone. "Are you interested in her that way? Is that why you want to know about her?"

"No!" He suddenly exclaimed, "Or I don't know. I don't think so… I never really considered it. Plus, I can't like her. She's way out of my-"

"Stop that," Todoroki ordered again. "As I said before, no more of the self deprecating stuff. Now, I think it's important that you figure out your own feelings before you start worrying about anything else."

Izuku nodded. He figured that all made sense. His first instinct was still to say that of course he didn't have romantic feelings for Melissa but something was holding him back. It felt somehow wrong to rush through it. He'd give the subject some more thought. Maybe he didn't like her like that, but it was just such strong gratitude for what she was doing for him? That could be it… right? He'd figure it out...

"Thank you, Todoroki," he finally said. "I think I just needed someone to talk all this over with."

"I'm glad I could help," he said with a shrug, pausing, a brief look of rare concern on his face, "I would take my advice with a grain of salt though."

"I'll keep that in mind," Izuku said with a grin.

"I'm serious," Todoroki responded when Izuku laughed, "I don't actually have any experience. I might have given you horrible advice."

It probably wouldn't have been so funny if his classmate wasn't so dead serious.

"I know," he told him. "But I appreciate your help anyway."

"Alright, everyone!" Aizawa's voice called out stopping the pair from saying anything else. "Times up for your activities. Please return to you normal desks and then I can give a few announcements to make before class ends."

The two boys shared their goodbyes and Izuku headed back over to his desk and sat down.

"Hopefully this has helped you all practice how to respond to a variety of different emergency situations that you may find yourselves in as Pro Heroes," Aizawa said once the class had settled back down. "I expect this will also mean that this is the end of making careless mistakes like the ones from the Provisional Licensing Exam. Am I clear?"

There were a few scattered mutters of agreement but apparently, this wasn't enough for their teacher.

"I said, is that clear?" He demanded, raising his voice a bit louder.

"Yes, sensei!" They all chanted back in unison.

"Good," the erasing hero said contentedly. "Now, I also have another announcement to make before you are free to go for the day. As some of you might know, the International Hero Expo is being held in Tokyo this year. As the number one Hero Academy in Japan, U.A. is expected to make a showing. Usually, this type of thing falls to the seniors, but because of how well known our class has become this year, we are also expected to take part in representing our school. More details of what that entails will follow shortly but I am just making you aware."

The whole class broke out into excited whispers. Izuku himself was nearly vibrating with glee. Going to both I-Expo and the International Hero Expo had been two of his biggest dreams for as long as he could remember. He'd gotten the chance to go to former the summer before, even if they did have to deal with a villain attack, and now he was finally going to be able to visit the latter as well. It had been a long time since the Expo had been held here in Japan. As backwards as it may sound, the Expo was often held in countries with a higher crime rate. They figured that the influx of Heroes in attendance and the hope the Expo brought would be good for the populace. With Japan having the lowest crime rate in the world, it rarely came here. He couldn't help but wonder why they decided to come now all times… but then with a sickening twist in his gut, he realized exactly why. All Might was gone now and the Symbol of Peace was widely accepted as the reason for Japan's outstanding crime stats. Now that he thought about it, there was no way anyone should be surprised by their decision. Izuku just hoped that it actually helped.

"That's all for now," Aizawa announced. "See you all tomorrow."

* * *

Waiting for the audible click of the door unlocking, Izuku pushed his way into the training room they'd booked for today. Just like last time, Melissa was already waiting for him. He'd already changed this time though, wearing the standard U.A. gym clothes instead of his costume. There was no need for his full costume for training. The only equipment he needed was the stuff his partner had brought with her.

"Hey, Izuku!" The blond called cheerfully over her shoulder, and he found an answering smile already growing on his face before he even realized it. "Are you ready for some training?"

"Yeah!" He answered excitedly. "I can't wait to start using your equipment more. I really think it's going to do wonders for my control."

"Actually, after warming up a bit, if you're still ok with it, I thought we could do some simple sparring to start," Melissa said still looking over her equipment. "Than after that, we can work more on your quirk. Does that sound good?"

Something icy seemed to grip his Izuku's insides at the thought of sparring with Melissa, "Are you sure you still want to do that?"

At this, she finally turned around to meet his gaze completely, a confused frown on her face, "Of course. Why do you ask?"

Izuku hesitated, "It's just… I'm worried… what if I hurt you?"

Melissa's eyes widened in realization for a few seconds before her whole expression softened, "I'll be fine. I know you won't hurt me."

"B-but how?" He asked. "You know what my controls like! If I slip up even for a second, it could prove disastrous!"

She sighed, "First of all, we both know your control isn't that bad. You're more prone to slip up and hurt yourself than me or anyone else. Second, I wasn't suggesting we spar with your quirk. And third… I trust you, Izuku. I know you would never hurt me."

"Melissa," he said softly, a strange tingly warmth spreading throughout his chest and counteracting any of the fear that he'd felt before.

To his embarrassment, he was sure that his eyes had started to water, but Melissa acted as if she didn't see anything, "So, are you ready to go?"

Sniffing once and wiping his eyes, the two partners started going through their warm-up stretches. Melissa had been wearing the same workout clothes as last time, but Izuku had managed to do a better job at ignoring it this time, at least until the stretches had started. Seeing all that exposed skin as she bent over and twisted her body didn't really help him with his often scattered thoughts. It was strange, he was able to oftentimes stay so calm during a crisis and yet anything related to girls left him a nervous wreck.

It wasn't long after that they stood facing each other. He was a bit surprised when she tossed him some standard looking boxing gloves, but he figured that actually made sense. Once they were both suited up and ready to go, she motioned him forward.

"Come at me when you're ready," she said.

Izuku still wasn't completely comfortable with all this but he knew there was no backing out now. Launching himself forward he committed to a pretty standard right cross. Melissa blocked it with ease and before he even knew what was happening, her other fist had slipped under his guard and delivered an uppercut into his gut with a good amount of strength behind it. Letting out a small gasp of air, Izuku jumped back, now eyeing his partner warily. She had a small smirk growing on her lips.

Moving back in more carefully now, Izuku gave a small jab to test the waters. Like the first time, she blocked it with ease and this time he managed to avoid the lightning-fast follow up strike… if just barely.

"Stop holding back on me, Izuku," she said. "I won't break. Let's really do this."

Huffing slightly, but with a small smile growing on his face nonetheless, Izuku obliged and the two began their match in earnest. While he did a lot better once he stopped worrying so much about hurting her, Melissa did seem to still be able to block and almost predict where he was going to strike most of the time. It happened so much that he'd started to almost get frustrated. It turned out to be a good work out in the end though and a much-needed practice session. They both found themselves to be slightly out of breath and just a little bit sweaty as they wrapped that up. Izuku really didn't want to delve deeper into the fact that he'd found the faint sheen on Melissa's skin to somehow make her look even more beautiful.

"You're doing pretty good," she said as they were taking a quick break after stopping. "Your main problem is that you project your punches too much."

"Project?" He questioned.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's too easy to read where you are going to strike. You need to practice making that a little bit harder. That way your enemies will never know where your next hit is going to land."

"I guess that does sound like a useful skill to have," Izuku admitted.

"The other problem is your style… as in you don't really have one," Melissa continued. "It's obvious to me that you've picked up little things here and there. Be it from other heroes, specific counters designed for enemies you've faced, or some other source, but learning at least some of a proper style would probably round you out much better as a fighter."

Izkuku nodded, "So what do you suggest?"

"Well," she began, "I say we keep up with our kickboxing regularly for now and then maybe we go talk to Uncle Might as well. I'm sure he might have some advice or ideas for you as well. It sounds like so far that most of your interactions have been all about controlling your quirk. That won't be an issue for now so we can all focus on some other refinements."

"Sounds good," he agreed.

"Ok, that's enough of that for now," she said, walking back over to her table of equipment. "Now, let's do your quirk training."

Izuku spent the next several minutes putting on the dark coloured versions of the Full Gauntlet 2.0, both for his arms and legs. Then after listening to the fitness plan that had been designed by Melissa herself, he began his workout. He still found it a challenge to regulate just the right amount of One for All into the gauntlet to let him move freely and without resistance… but he supposed that was the point.

He went through many of the same tests as the last time though on this occasion it seemed to be legitimately about training him instead of simply gathering data. Izuku wasn't sure if he'd say that he could actually sense any improvement yet after the session was done he was exhausted. He hadn't felt this warn out since those ten months when he had been training to get into U.A. with All Might.

"Oh man," Izuku gasped. "I'm beat."

"Well, we can stop for today. You don't want to overdo it," Melissa said with a smile. "You did really well. I'm sure that if you keep this up, you'll eventually have a breakthrough with your quirk to help you manage it better. Plus, all this practice will also help your body get used to handling more and more power so you won't need as much fine control anyway."

"I look forward to it," he said, agreeing with her statement as the two of them started to pack up.

It was as they were doing so that Izuku's mind started to wander back over his class earlier. Not specifically his talk with Todoroki, because that topic was unfortunately never far from his mind, but more about the announcement that Aizawa had made to them.

"Hey, Melissa," he said, trying to grab her attention.

"Yeah?" She answered, having just put his gauntlets away and shutting down her laptop now.

"I was just wondering if you'd heard about the International Hero Expo yet?" He asked. "Our homeroom teacher just told us about it today."

He wasn't sure what exactly he'd been expecting, but the way the blond's eyes lit up hadn't been it. He'd never really met anyone else who got as excited by things like this as he did.

"Of course!" She declared. "I've known about it for a while though I'm pretty sure that holding it here in Japan was only a somewhat recent change. I think I heard it was originally going to be somewhere in America. There was a bit of controversy around that apparently."

That just went to prove to Izuku that maybe his theory was right, but he didn't really feel like getting into that right then, "Well I'm glad it is! It's been my dream to attend the Expo for years but I've never been able to go before. International flights are super costly. Actually, coming to I-Expo was the first time I'd ever been out of Japan."

Melissa's eyes widened in surprise at that before giving him a soft-eyed look he didn't quite understand, "Well, I'm glad at least that your first time got to be with me, even if it did get a little bit hectic this year."

Completely missing the double entendre, intentional or not, that virtually any other teenage boy would have picked up on, Izuku just nodded, "Even with everything that did happen, I am still glad that I came to visit I-Island with All Might. I got to see so much cool stuff… and I well… I got to meet you too."

Izuku was a bit surprised to the blush that spread across the older girl's face at his words. What exactly was it that he'd said? He was just telling the truth. They'd never have become friends if he hadn't gone to I-Island last summer.

Melissa looked away for a moment before cough and clearing her throat, "Yes, well, that is true. I do think you'll really enjoy the expo though. As much as you enjoy support items, I know you're an even bigger fan of the Heroes themselves. So this will be like I-Expo but even bigger and even more up your alley."

"I can't wait," he said with a grin though that quickly faded away to a thoughtful frown, "Aizawa-sensei did say that our class would have to be involved in representing our school at the Expo though too. I wonder what that's going to include."

His friend nodded, "It's pretty standard for the host country's top Hero Academy to be present at the Expo. They always do something unique though so I can't really give you any hints on what it might be. We'll both have to wait and see what the faculty come up with."

Izuku nodded, "He also said that it's usually only the seniors that do anything, but once again it seems like our class is getting special treatment. Like the other first years really need any more reason to hate us. Anyway, is your class involved at all."

"Nothing really as a full class," she explained, "but Support Tech Scientists can show off new breakthroughs or inventions they've made. I was originally working on something before I decided to come here, but I don't know now."

He frowned, "What do you mean? Is it something that you can't finish up here at U.A.?"

Melissa shifted somewhat uncomfortably, "Well the original full gauntlet actually had to do with my research. You've probably heard of nano-tech in Science Fiction, right? It was always my dream to be able to crack that, but working on the Full Gauntlet is the closest I ever got. It uses those same principles to grow from its small wristband form into its full-grown mode and vice-versa."

"Wow," Izuku said, his eyes wide as they glanced back over at the open case holding his equipment. "I never even considered that it's nano-tech."

"Well it's not yet," she corrected. "You see the hexagon shapes it splits into when growing or shrinking, right? Those individual components still aren't small enough. Plus, it's only programmed to shift between two modes with a little bit of wiggle room for the gauntlet to adjust to the size of the wearer's arm. If it was true, nano-tech it could be programmed to shape itself into almost anything. The possibilities are endless."

"So why aren't you still working on it?" He asked, almost fearing the answer she would give. "You said this is like your dream project, right?"

Melissa shrugged, not quite meeting his eye, "I've just been busy you know. Getting integrated here and working on your new equipment. It's fine though. I'll have time to look into it in the future."

Not in time to present anything at the Expo though, he wanted to add. It was a big project and there was no way to know that she would even pull off such a remarkable achievement in time, but that didn't mean she shouldn't try. The part that was bugging him even more was that despite how she was trying to play it off as no big deal, it was clear it was his fault that she had to give up this project for the moment.

"Let me help you," the words had left his mouth before he'd even had a chance to realize what he'd been saying. Despite the haste with which he'd spoken, he didn't regret them one bit. "I don't know what exactly I could do to help, but let me try at the very least. I want to help you achieve your dream as well!"

Melissa was silent for several moments, just blinking her blue eyes at him in shock before a complicated series of emotions seem to flash over her face.

"You don't have to do that," she said. "I appreciate the thought, really I do, but-"

"But it's my fault you had to stop your research!" He interrupted. "I need to make it up to you."

"No, Izuku," her eyes had gone wide once again. "I didn't mean to imply that I blamed you for any of that. It was my choice to come here and to give that up. You don't have to worry about any of this."

"But I want to!" Izuku responded, some frustration starting to leak into his voice. "We're partners, right? That's what you said before and partners are supposed to help each other… they support each other. It doesn't just all go one way so that's why I want to help. I am fascinated with what you are working on, so please let me help. I don't know if we will succeed or not, but shouldn't we at least try? I want to do this for you… for us."

She fell silent once more, giving him a look he had trouble identifying, "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," he responded.

She gave him a watery sounding laugh, "Fine, but we're stopping if this starts to negatively affect your grades, ok? Your hero training is still the first priority, deal?"

"Deal," he agreed.

He couldn't help the buzz of excitement that was already filling his chest as he thought about all of this. Nanotech! The possibilities were endless. He knew he was a smart kid even if he was nowhere near as smart as Melissa was herself, but he vowed to himself that he would do whatever he could to help her. He'd push his mind and his skills to the limits to help her push as close as she possibly could to her goal.

"I can't believe we're really doing this," he said a moment later with a wide grin. "It's so exciting!"

The answering grin her received, in turn, had Izuku feeling like he was floating on cloud nine. Melissa's eyes had lit up, her whole face lifting up into a wide beaming smile. At that moment, Izuku couldn't help but think that she'd never looked more beautiful. It was also at that moment that he realized he finally had an answer to his question.

Meeting Melissa's gaze and seeing the passion that burned in her eyes, Izuku Midoriya knew exactly how he felt about her.


End file.
